


Section Three: Waterfall

by VenomQuill



Series: Fallen Under- Underfell Novel [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: CORE, F/F, F/M, Fallen Under, Hotland, Snowdin, Souls, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, The Ruins - Freeform, Waterfall, kingdom - Freeform, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 00:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9096448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomQuill/pseuds/VenomQuill
Summary: Snowdin may have been the coldest and most bitter place in the Underground, but Waterfall is no better. Though not cold, Waterfall is a hungry bog whose dangerous river currents, lashing waterfalls, and mucky ground that often is nothing more than mud on the surface of spring, waits for monsters to fall in. That's not to mention the haunting echoes of flowers that will lead monsters to their doom. Will Frisk manage to keep themselves up high or will they drown in the despair the denizens of Waterfall live in?





	1. Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are entering Waterfall! I repeat, we are entering Waterfall! This should be a nice trip, hmm?

          Snow blanketed the ground of the forest. Trees, glimmering in snow, stood tall along the bank of an icy river that snaked all through the Underground. Frisk, donned in a red and black sweater-coat with brilliant red gloves, traveled out of the road from Snowdin to a tunnel carved by the river. A small yellow flower poked out of their coat and brushed their cheek. His tattered petals were framed by the human’s short brown hair and the hood of the coat they wore.

          Frisk looked up and winced as a drop of water hit their eye. “Is it going to be like this the whole time, Flowey?”

          Flowey shook his head. “No. There are some waterfalls in these tunnels here. However, there are parts of waterfall that aren’t _as_ wet. It is a marsh, though.”

          Frisk pouted. “Well… how long until we get out?”

           “I don’t know. A while, probably. Just, watch where you step. You don’t want to fall in.”

          The river turned away. The tunnel continued onward. Water stopped dripping from the ceiling. Just as well; the floor broke away in one place to allow water to pour out in a waterfall beneath them. A sentry station was pushed up to the top right corner. Sans, an elbow propping up his head on the table, played with something on the station. A brilliant blue flower bloomed from the ground. Beside it, a half-conscious fish monster leaned on the wall. A yellow glimmer of light was on the right side. Before Frisk and Flowey could approach them, as the flower looked inviting, a body just about their size ran into them.

          Frisk gasped and took a step back. “Oh goodness! I’m so sorry!”

          The person in front of them, an armless kid with a striped sweater, glowered at them. Spikes created a frill over his head and spiked his tail. “Watch where you’re going next time!”

           “I’m sorry.” Frisk straightened up. “I didn’t mean to run into you. Hey, what are you doing here, anyway?”

           “Whatever I want,” the kid snapped immediately and then hesitated. “Well, away. I’m going to go watch Undyne beat up some bad guys.”

           “Undyne?” Frisk perked up.

          Monster kid nodded. “Yeah! Undyne! She’s just the coolest! I’m going to be her apprentice and be just like her when I grow up.”

           “She must be really cool, then.”

           “Oh yeah, she is.” Monster kid nodded his head. “She beats up all the bad guys and runs the entire royal guard. No one messes with her. I’m going out to see her. Are you coming?”

          Frisk nodded. “I would love to! I need to get to Hotland, though.”

           “Oh. To see Mettaton?”

           “Er- that would be nice, too!”

           “Whatever. He’s nowhere near as cool as Undyne.” Monster kid shrugged. “Well, bye!” He turned and raced out of Frisk’s sight.

          Flowey sighed. “Great. Undyne followers. If we hurry, we might slip past them.”

          Frisk set their hand on the yellow glimmer.

          _“The sound of rushing water fills you with determination.”_

          Frisk nodded and kept going. “Okay.”

          _“Okay.”_ Frisk’s voice popped up behind them. They jumped and spun around. The half-conscious fish monster sniffed but did not move.

          Sans snickered, “what? never seen an echo flower before? i thought at least your little flower would’ve known.”

          Flowey huffed and opened his mouth to retort. He hesitated and rolled his eyes. “Yes. An echo flower repeats the last thing it’s heard over and over.”

          _“Yes. An echo flower repeats the last thing it’s heard over and over.”_

          Frisk chuckled. “Wow! That’s so neat! These are all over the place?”

          Flowey nodded. “Yeah. They’re all over the place.”

           “That would be so cool if those existed above ground,” Frisk reminisced. “It would make a lot of sense. Lots of places seem to talk at night. Like the wind whispers your name or the trees and bushes rustle and cackle or something. Mt. Ebott Nature Preserve is literally the spookiest forest I’ve ever seen.”

           “Mt. Ebott Nature Reserve?” Flowey echoed.

          _“Mt. Ebott Nature Reserve?”_

           “mt. ebott nature reserve?” Sans mimicked.

           “Mt. Ebott Nature Reserve!” Frisk giggled. “Aw! You can have so much fun with these flowers.”

           “…fun. Yeah. Let’s keep going, alright?” Flowey encouraged.

          Frisk nodded and continued on. “Bye!”

           “bye, kid.”

          _“bye, kid.”_

          Down the path, a thin wooden staircase led down the waterfall. Unfortunately, it just did a loop next to the waterfall so it didn’t help them cross. The waterfall itself burbled and rushed across the stone. Rocks from above crashed into the water and flowed down the waterfall. A trans dimensional box sat cozily beside the waterfall. Flowey craned his neck so that he could read the sign next to the box. “‘This is a box. You can put an item in, or take an item out. Why would you though? You can’t use items when they’re in the box! -Sincerely, a box hater.’”

          Frisk knelt and opened the box. Their slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie was still in there. They smiled, got up, and approached the riverside. “Is there a way around?”

          Flowey shook his head. “No. We’ll have to walk across.”

           “Oh… well… I don’t want to get my coat wet.” Frisk gently took off their coat, folded it, and set it inside the box with a little pat. Their bunny was put down as well. They pulled the sleeves of their pants around their ankles and, Flowey and shoes in hand, tromped across the river. Once on the other side, they put their shoes back on.

          Flowey looked about. “Let’s just hope you don’t get cold, then. Grass?”

          Frisk tipped their head. They were still walking through a thinner tunnel. However, most of it was now blocked by tall grass. The young human carefully stepped through it. Before they could get through it completely, a very familiar voice stopped them.

           “HELLO, UNDYNE. I’M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT.”

          Frisk’s eyes grew round in surprise. Flowey shook his head vigorously.

           “REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER… HUH?” Papyrus cut himself off. A short growl both amplified and muffled by a metal helmet came in response. Papyrus hesitated and answered, “DID I FIGHT THEM? OF COURSE I DID! I FOUGHT THEM VALIENTLY! …DID I CAPTURE THEM? OH! WELL… NO. I TRIED VERY HARD, UNDYNE, BUT IN THE END… I FAILED.” Papyrus could barely choke out the words. Frisk put a hand to their mouth. Flowey looked at them incredulously. “YOU’RE GOING TO TAKE THE HUMAN’S SOUL YOURSELF? BUT UNDYNE, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DESTROY THEM. YOU SEE…” The second voice cut him off. “…I UNDERSTAND. I WILL DO WHAT I CAN TO HELP YOU.” Papyrus’ heavy footsteps faded.

          Frisk about spoke but Flowey tapped his head to theirs to quiet them. Frisk took a deep breath and started to move forward. They heard a voice as metal footsteps began approaching the cliff. Above them, all they could see on the cliff was the tip of two large, midnight boots. A glowing spear the color of blue crystal materialized in the knight’s left hand, while her right one hovered close to her waist. Her long red hair brushed her elbows and back.

          Eventually, the knight let go of the spear, which immediately dematerialized, and took a few steps back.

          Frisk took a shaky breath and walked very carefully through the grass and to the ground on the other side. A yellow glimmer hovered a few feet away. Before they could make it, Monster Kid raced out of the grass, too. He laughed and looked about. “Yo! Did you see the way she looked at you? Aw man, that’s so cool! C’mon! If we hurry, I bet we can watch her beat up some bad guys!” The boy raced ahead again. Unfortunately, he tripped and fell on his face. Before Frisk could aid them, Monster Kid jumped back up and kept running.

          _“A feeling of dread hangs over you… but you stay determined.”_

          Frisk took a deep breath. “I don’t want to think about what that means.”

          Flowey nodded. “Me, neither. Hopefully… there is a way we can keep avoiding her.” Frisk continued their walk. Eventually, they got to a section where a stream cut through the trail. A sign next to four leafy seeds was before it. Flowey craned his neck to look at the sign. “‘When four bridge seeds align in the water, they will bloom.’ Are _those_ bridge seeds?”

          Frisk shrugged. “I guess. They’re next to the puzzle. Weren’t you paying attention when we came through here?”

          Flowey shook his head. “I was concerned over your health.”

           “Oh. Right.” They set Flowey down and picked up the first seed. They had to hold the thing with two hands. Once they set it in the water, they gave it a little push. It floated to the other side of the gap. Three more followed it. Once all four seeds had been aligned in a straight row, they bloomed. The leaves grew broad and round. The flowers bloomed and petals lay flat. Frisk picked up Flowey and trotted to the other side.

          Frisk gasped as their soul appeared before their chest. A horse swam up before them. From the belly up, it looked to be a brown anthropomorphic horse. From the waist down, a long, green fish tail snaked down. Once he knew that Frisk and Flowey’s attention were on him, he flexed his arms and smirked. His fanged teeth glinted in the crystal light. Aaron flexes in!

          _“Aaron. Attack 24, Defense 12. HP 96. This seahorse has a lot of horsepower.”_

           “Check all you want,” Aaron laughed and swung at them. Frisk yelped and dodged most of the swings. However, Aaron managed to hit them with his elbow. A crack formed in their soul. Frisk shook their head. Aaron playfully splashed water at them with his serpentine tail.

          Flowey grimaced as water was splashed in his face. “Blegh! Plegh! Ugh! My mouth was open.”

          Frisk shuffled their feet. “Um, yes. But can we pass now?”

           “Come in! The water’s fine!” Aaron invited with a wink. Frisk dodged another few swings. Aaron didn’t seem to maliciously laugh if they got hurt or enjoyed watching their pain.

          Chara thought for a moment. Water phased right through them. _“Try flexing back.”_

          Frisk hesitated and set Flowey down. Flowey looked at them incredulously. Frisk puffed out their chest and flexed at Aaron.

          The seahorse laughed, “Flexing contest? Ok, flex more.” Aaron’s tail whipped around to coil around him but instead ended up slapping his waist. The sweat and water that trickled down his tawny skin flung themselves at Frisk. This attack was almost impossible to dodge. Frisk held a hand to their aching chest. More cracks formed in their soul. Aaron watched them in anticipation. Frisk puffed out their chest again and flexed at him. “Nice! I won’t lose, though,” Aaron chuckled with a wink. He swung at them again. Frisk jumped nimbly from foot to foot, allowing Aaron very little time to hit them. Eventually, Aaron returned to their original place. Their tail slapped the water again. Frisk jumped back, but their legs were wet and feet soaked so it didn’t matter, anyway. Flowey spat out a bit more water and shook droplets from his tattered petals.

          Frisk flexed at him again. Aaron, not even challenged by a young human who didn’t exercise regularly, flexed thrice as hard. He flexed so hard, that he ended up flexing himself out of the room. A few coins clattered to the ground, though a good third of it fell into the water. Frisk pocketed the looted g before picking up Flowey again. “Are you okay?”

           “I’m soaked,” Flowey grumbled. “But fine. What’s ahead?”

           “Another seed puzzle, I think,” Frisk replied as they crossed the bridge into the next room. They nearly trod upon four more bridge seeds.

          A golden bell was at the end of the room with a sign next to it. Flowey looked it over. “‘If an error is made, the bell blossom can call the bridge seeds back to where they started.’ That’s handy. Now this line here…” Flowey turned to the stream on the left edge of the room. A bridge connected it to the other tunnel. However, there was no bridge at the top. Each space between the two parts of land was only big enough to hold three bridge seeds at most. Flowey turned to the southern side of the room. A small strip of land separated a sign in the water from another swatch of water. “Oh! There’s a sign over there! Bring those seeds over there. Maybe it will give us a hint.”

           “I’ll check it out.” Frisk set Flowey down, picked up a seed, and trotted over to the sign. Unfortunately, partway there, they tripped over an uneven stone. The bridge seed drifted into the water- on the other side of the strip of land. Frisk attempted to grasp it. It drifted to the side under their touch. Frisk groaned and got up. “Darnit.”

           “You can use the bell,” Flowey encouraged.

           “Okay. Wait a second…” Frisk picked up Flowey and trotted to the end of the room. The bridge seed had stopped at the edge. “Why did it stop here?”

          Flowey craned his neck and looked around the corner. “Oh! There’s a dock! Put down a few more.”

          Frisk immediately set Flowey down and pushed three more bridge seeds into the water. They bloomed and allowed the two passage. There, in a secluded little room, was a bench and an echo flower.

          _“I just wasn’t ready for the responsibility.”_

          Frisk tipped their head and knelt. Underneath of the bench was a quiche. Flowey huffed, “A quiche? Responsibility…?” Frisk gently took out the quiche and held it up in their hands.

          _“‘Abandoned Quiche.’ Heals 34 HP. A psychologically damaged spinach egg pie.”_

           “Aw! It was abandoned!” Frisk whimpered.

           “It’s a quiche. It’s not a real thing,” Flowey pointed out. “Someone just baked it. Maybe someone baked it and the other person didn’t really like it and put it here? I don’t know. It’s just a quiche. Come on; let’s solve that puzzle.”

          Frisk gently wrapped the quiche and set it inside of their bag. Once it was safely put away, they picked up Flowey and went back into the next room. New seeds had formed. Frisk went over to the bridge and pushed them upstream so that the bridge seeds were caught on the sides of the stream. They bloomed and allowed passage. Frisk happily skipped across.

          Frisk jumped as their phone rang. Flower watched in skepticism as Frisk picked up the phone in one hand and held Flowey in the other. “Hello? This is Frisk.”

           “HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS!”

           “Hello, Papyrus!” Frisk greeted. “Wait… did I give you my number…?”

           “YES. WHAT WERE YOU WEARING? I’M ASKING FOR A FRIEND. SHE THOUGHT SHE SAW YOU WEARING THAT RIBBON.”

           “Really? Well, I _am_ still wearing it,” Frisk answered in reply.

           “Wearing what?” Flowey inquired.

           “The ribbon,” Frisk answered simply.

           “SO, YOU ARE WEARING A FADED RIBBON. GOOD. ER- GOOD LUCK.” _Click._

          Flowey looked at the phone and then up at them. “What was that about?”

          Frisk shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe his friend wanted to know if I was his friend or something.”

          Flowey huffed and turned ahead. “I don’t trust this at all. Do you know who ‘she’ is?”

          Frisk shook their head. “No. I don’t.”

           “What if it’s that armored monster?” Flowey questioned. “The one who attempted to spear us.”

           “Maybe. But now that she knows we’re friends, maybe she won’t spear us!” Frisk gasped and trotted into the next room.

          _“A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky. If you wished with all your heart, it would come true. Now all we have are these sparkling stones in the ceiling…”_ the harsh whisper came from a blooming echo flower next to the entrance.

          Frisk jumped and then relaxed. The area was filled with echo flowers. A sign stood on the wall opposite the door. Flowey whispered, “Wishing Room.”

          The next echo flower announced, _“Thousands of people wishing can’t be wrong! The king will prove that! …right?”_

          Frisk jumped as their soul warmed the area before their chest. A little bucket-shaped creature hobbled forth. One arm looked like a crank. The other held a round head, presumably belonging to the creature. A fish tank half-full of water made the top of the bucket. A little bird sat in the water, chirping quietly to itself.

          _“Woshua- Attack 18, Defense 5. HP 72. This germaphobe wishes to cleanse the world of its filth.”_

           “Cleanse your _soul!”_ Woshua hissed and waved its free hand. A bar of soap zipped about the place. Frisk yelped as one of the glittering sparkles left behind cracked into their soul.

           “U-um… do you wish to clean me?” Frisk offered.

          Woshua bounced about in excitement. “Green means clean!”

          This time, a round of giant, white water droplets rushed away from Woshua. Upon hitting the wall, a bit of dirt was washed away. Green drops of water meandered slowly away from Woshua. Upon touching it, a fracture in their soul was erased. The muck that had collected on them was gone.

          Woshua, proud of its good work, chattered to its little bird friend.

           “Bye!” Frisk waved their hand. Woshua gave them a curt nod and shuffled away.

          Plenty of the other echo flowers were strangely silence. Frisk hesitated and then knelt down beside one of the echo flowers. “Don’t worry. Everyone will be free soon.”

          _“Don’t worry. Everyone will be free soon.”_

          Frisk then began to have fun with them. “Howdy!”

          _“Howdy!”_

           “This is your Captain speaking…”

          _“This is your Captain speaking…”_

          Frisk snickered and said, “Flowey, you say one.”

          _“Flowey, you say one.”_

          Flowey looked at Frisk. “I’m not going to stoop to your level.”

          _“I’m not going to stoop to your level.”_

          Frisk giggled. The flower giggled back. This caused the young human to laugh. The blue flower mimicked them perfectly. Flowey groaned and tipped his head back in exasperation.

          Frisk cleared their throat and said to one, “My name is Flora.”

          _“My name is Flora.”_

          Frisk, hiding a giggle, leaned the echo flower close to another and activated it.

          _“My name is Flora.”_

          _“My name is Flora.”_

          Frisk let go of the flowers. “I did it!” Frisk giggled. “Knock, knock.”

          _“Knock, knock.”_

          Frisk moved onto the next tone. “Who’s there?”

          _“Who’s there?”_

           “Dishes.”

          _“Dishes.”_

           “Dishes who?”

          _“Dishes who?”_

           “Dishes a bad joke!”

          _“Dishes a bad joke!”_

          Frisk put their hand to their mouth to keep from laughing loud enough for the echo flowers to hear. Finally, Flowey managed to make Frisk stand up and continue. Frisk nearly bumped into a telescope as they walked through the small room. “Oh! A telescope! Down here? What’s in it?”

          Flowey leaned down so that he could look through the telescope. “Ah… there are just a bunch of crystals- wait. Someone wrote on this! …check wall? What does that mean?”

           “Maybe there’s something hidden in the walls!” Frisk answered and began feeling about the walls. A few vines from Flowey erupted from the damp soil in the boot and felt around the walls as well. There was a branching hallway that led to a dead end. However, when Frisk pressed their hands to the dead end, it shuttered and collapsed. A hole wide enough and tall enough for them was bared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Echo Flowers! Who else wishes they could do this, hmm? I know I'd love to.


	2. Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waterfall is very wet, isn't it? Flowey forgot the seed puzzle. Oh well. They got a nice psychologically damaged quiche out of the deal!

          Frisk and Flowey entered a dock. Or, rather, a large wooden platform over the water with a small dock to one side. Signs with old hieroglyphs decorated the wall on the other side.

          Flowey squinted as he looked over them. “I can just barely make them out… ‘The War of Humans and Monsters.’” Frisk walked to the next one. “‘Why did the humans attack? Indeed, they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the soul of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a single human soul.’ … ‘But humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their soul. Its power allows it to persist outside of the human body, even after death.’ … ‘If a monster defeats a human, they can take its soul. A monster with a human soul… a terrible being with unimaginable power.’” The last sign was just a drawing of a horrible creature.

           “That is very unsettling,” Frisk murmured.

          Flowey nodded slowly. “Yes. Let’s keep moving… there’s a little boat thing here we can use, I think.”

          Frisk looked over to the end of the dock. A piece of wood was docked there. Carefully, Frisk put a foot on it and slowly sank their weight into it. The wood shuttered, but otherwise didn’t move. Once both of Frisk’s feet were on it, they sat down, put Flowey on the wood before them, and rowed the little thing across. The water, very cold to their hands and fingers, was quite still and allowed them passage easily.

          As they rowed, voices began to hiss around them. _“We’ll never be free…” “They’ll kill us all…” “Angel? Angel of Death more like…” “We’re doomed.” “Just DROWN already!” “The water is so cold…” “Hide here just for a bit…” “don’t hurt him!” “I’ll come back. I promise. Quiet.” “Someone take care of him…” “i’m sorry…” “Regret…” “I’ll find you.” “kill me…” “I love you.”_ Frisk whimpered and looked about. They couldn’t see anything but blue specks of light in the dark. As they progressed, they found the voices began to mingle and garble and change until they were unrecognizable. _“Wey'll keler bus ale...” “Thus'll kROWs allady!” “Angyl'll kAll usl all Death more like...” “Wm'lle ryvomedfree...” “Anst DROWN ofreaaty! more like...” “Whe wador isedo cold...” “kiide hate jisst foc aldit...” “donrehuot hiem!” “I'liseoheROasN oreroyiise. Quiet.” “Somewane tske carld of him...” “kim serry...” “Ridcrete bjuk. fopramtse. Quiet” “I'll fi'tmurtuam! I promise. Quiet.” “Rll sery...” “I'lovndyou.”_

          Frisk put their hands on over their ears to attempt to block out the cries and mutters and garbled messages that assaulted them. Flowey searched about and began to grab onto various rocks, broken planks, sunken boats, and other objects in the water to keep them moving. By the time they hit the dock on the other side, the echo flowers were distant and their words were quiet mumbles.

           “Frisk?” Flowey’s vine wrapped about their wrist.

          Frisk opened their watery eyes. “H-huh? Flowey?”

           “We’re out, now,” Flowey replied in a quiet voice. “We’re out. The marsh has patches like these all over the place. Hopefully we can avoid most of them. But they’re nothing, Frisk. They’re nothing but old voices.”

           “They sounded so sad and distressed and angry…” Frisk complained.

          Flowey nodded. “I know. But those could have come from anyone at any time. Heck, most of the people whose voices are there could be long dead. The marsh takes a voice and never lets go. The only ones that can be overridden are ones you are right next to and that are relatively alone- like the ones you were playing with earlier. They probably activated when the water started shifting. Now, let’s get a move on, okay? Let’s put as much distance between us and the screaming bogs as possible.”

          Frisk crawled onto the dock, picked up Flowey, and walked a few steps forward. The walkway was thinner here and winding near the end. To the left, just past a gap of water, was a hallway full of large, thick pillars.

           “I have a really bad feeling about this,” Flowey whispered.

          Frisk nodded and tightened their hug on Flowey’s boot. “I… I hope there’s nothing here.” They hadn’t made it three steps before a giant, icy blue spear struck into the wood before them. They jumped back with a shout. The armored monster that Papyrus had spoken with stepped out of the shadows of the pillars. Flowey yelped, “Run! _Run!_ ”

          Frisk jumped and raced forward. Three large spears were summoned into existence and flew at them. Frisk skittered out of the way. The three spears struck the wall on the other side of them. The head of the spears sank completely into the earth. Once they stopped moving, they evaporated. Once they evaporated, three more took their place and launched themselves at Frisk and Flowey.

          The dock curved in many places to avoid large patches of greenery in the water. While attempting to run with one of the curves, a spear struck through their soul. Frisk yelped and set a hand on their chest. Their soul cracked and shuttered.

          Shaky and mind blank from fear, Frisk raced as fast as they could down the dock. Finally, they made it to a giant path of extremely tall grass. Once there, they collapsed. Flowey hissed in surprise as Frisk let him go. He tumbled a few feet before bouncing to a stop on his side. They could hear another set of breathing in the grass. A yellow tail disturbed the grass near them.

          Heavy boots clunked against the earth. Undyne’s large body separated the sea of grass. The footsteps stopped by Frisk. They hardly dared to breath. Her hand flashed down. A squeak came in response. Undyne lifted Monster Kid up out of the grass enough to where his grinning mouth easily went past the grass. After a moment of contemplation, Undyne lowered him to the ground and stalked away.

          Frisk shakily got to their hands and knees and felt the ground for Flowey. His vines wrapped around one of their wrists and guided their hand to him. Frisk picked him up, got their feet, and stumbled out of the grasses. Monster kid raced out of the grass behind them. “Did you see that? Undyne just… touched me! Man are you unlucky. If you were standing just a little bit to the left… ah don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll see her again.” With that, he darted off. A few feet away, he tripped over his own feet and landed face-first into the ground. With some difficulty, Monster Kid got back up and continued his run.

          Frisk smiled weakly and walked unsteadily forward. A table holding a crystal-encased piece of cheese was to one side of the room. A yellow sparkle was to the other.

          _“Knowing that the mouse might one day extract the cheese from the crystal, it fills you with determination.”_

          They took a deep breath and smile. The pain was completely gone. “I wonder if the mouse ever _will_ get the cheese.”

           “I don’t know. We should probably focus on what’s ahead.” Flowey looked forward. Frisk nodded and continued.

          The small room they appeared in was a bit empty, though a telescope was up against the wall.

          The next place they went to was just a jumble of islands connected by bridges. Glimmering blue grass puffed up on the ground in multiple places. The small islands created a maze of places where Frisk could go. It also created a maze of places for other monsters to go. Echo flowers whispered through the grasses and water. The flowers were alone and quiet.

          _Brrriiing! Brrriiing! Br-_ Frisk picked up their phone. “Hello? This is Frisk.”

           “HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS! REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED YOU ABOUT CLOTHES? WELL, THE FRIEND I WAS ASKING FOR… WANTS TO KILL YOU. BUT, SINCE I KNEW THAT YOU KNEW THAT ALREADY, I KNEW THAT AFTER SUCH A SUSPICIOUS QUESTION, YOU WOULD OBVIOUSLY CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES. THUS, I TOLD HER THAT YOU WERE INDEED WEARING THAT RIBBON. THIS WAY YOU ARE SAFE, AND I DIDN’T HAVE TO LIE! NO BETRAYAL ANYWHERE!” _Click._

          Flowey raised an eyebrow at them. Frisk, face now red, put away the cell phone. “I… did not think of that. But, um, let’s keep going.”

          Flowey nodded. “Alright. Just don’t answer any more suspicious questions.” Frisk didn’t answer. They just kept walking.

          Eventually, they got to a point where they found another sign. Frisk stopped to allow Flowey to read it. “‘The power to take their souls. This is the power that the humans feared.’”

          Frisk stepped to the side and continued through the trail. “I would understand why people would be afraid of that.”

          They entered a small room, interrupted in the center by a pool. Somewhere in the far end of the pool, they could find Aaron. His serpentine tail ending in a fish’s tail wrapped around himself. He flexed at himself in the water.

          Frisk’s soul popped up in front of them. Sitting on the water’s edge close to them, hiding beneath a curtain of hair atop a round-spiked rock, was Shyren.

          _“Shyren- Attack 19, Defense 0. HP 66. Too shy to sing her deadly song.”_

          Shyren whispered, “…toot…” A white music note twirled slowly away from her. Frisk side-stepped away. Shyren began to hum quietly under her breath.

          Frisk smiled. “Can I see your smile, please?” In the corner, Aaron lowered his arms and nodded in encouragement. Shyren retreated and got quieter. No real attack came this time.

          Frisk began to hum a sad song. Shyren popped her head out from beneath her hair. Eyes bright in encouragement, Shyren raised her voice to a gentle, sad hum. Although her attack was more rigorous, Frisk hardly had to move at all to dodge them. Frisk continued humming their song. Shyren continued to follow along. Monsters began creeping into the room, eyes bright and attention on them. Suddenly, it was a concert.

          Shyren took her time to hum louder. Frisk continued their song. Sans was handing out tickets made of toilet paper. Surprisingly, no one crossed him. Though, Sans would occasionally shoot dark looks at the young human and flower.

          Frisk looked about. The praise and cheering around them gave them the confidence to keep going. Shyren, surprisingly, followed suit with a passion. Her attacks were getting increasingly harder to dodge. It was still fun to sing along.

          The monsters around began throwing clothing. It’s a storm of socks. Frisk giggled. Flowey ducked his head to avoid being hit by a sock. Unfortunately, one landed on his head so he had to shake that off.

          As they sang, Frisk began to see a shift in Shyren’s mood. She began to become thoughtful. Frisk looked about at the excited monsters. Although they looked threatening, their smiles and bright eyes betrayed their common love of music. Frisk turned back to Shyren. She was going to have the _best_ career. However, Frisk wasn’t going to be part of it. Both knew that it was their time. It was time to depart. They sang one final song, which made Shyren’s attacks infinitely harder to dodge.

          Frisk bowed. Coin had clattered to the ground. They picked up a portion of the g and scampered off. The monsters, knowing the concert was over, went back home. Many joked and shoved each other playfully. Although some growled at each other, the lighthearted mood of the concert relaxed their hate, if for but a moment.

          The two ended up finding another text on the wall. Flowey leaned forward to read it. “‘The northern room hides a great treasure.’ A great treasure, eh? Let’s go up and see.” Frisk walked up through the short tunnel that lead to the room specified by the sign. It was a small room with a piano to the left, a short indention to the north, and a sign to the right. Flowey piped up, “‘A haunting song echoes down the corridor… Won’t you play along?’ What song?”

          Frisk shrugged. “I don’t hear any music. Maybe there’s something down the hall…?”

           “Maybe. Let’s go.” Flowey looked ahead, back to the pool with Shyren and Aaron. Frisk passed them both.

          Frisk and Flowey found more texts on the walls. Flowey ran his gaze over the hieroglyphs. “‘This power has no counter. Indeed, a human cannot take a monster’s soul. When a monster dies, its soul disappears. An incredible power would be needed to take the soul of a living monster.’ … ‘There is only one exception. The soul of a special species of monster called a ‘boss monster’. A boss monster’s soul is strong enough to persist after death… if only for a few moments. A human could absorb this soul. But this has never happened. And now it never will.’” Someone had outlined the last sentence and underlined it in red. Frisk shook their head and continued their trail.

          Within a small, dark room, a statue stood. A little ray of light beamed down upon the thing. Water dripped and fell as well. Water ran like sweat off the statue and tears from its stone eyes. The thing was bent over, horns bared and hands covering something between its crossed legs as if it was protecting it. A dry spot could be seen just under its hands. A short way away, a rack full of umbrellas stood.

          Frisk trotted over to the umbrellas stand, pulled out a tan umbrella, and trotted back to the stone statue. The drops of water were soon blocked under the shade of the umbrella. As if by magic, the lonely statue didn’t look so sad. A tune began to play from a music box under its hands.

           “What did that do?” Flowey questioned.

          Frisk shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s playing some nice music, though. Wait… maybe this is the song the piano room referenced.”

           “It does sound like it was played on the piano,” Flowey agreed. “So… we just memorize the tune. I’m, uh, not good with songs.”

           “I am!” Frisk purred. “I love songs! Stay quiet for a bit.” Frisk shut their eyes. The feeling of peace and melancholy from the song drifted through them. _do de do do do-de-do do, do de do do do-de-do do…_

          As they sang, they found a second voice alongside their own. Frisk didn’t need to ask or search to know who sang to them. Instead, they set their hands behind their back and continued to sing. Chara, now visible to Frisk, sang alongside them. Both hummed to the tune of the soft music box before them. Eventually, Frisk opened their eyes and pulled themselves away from the song. Chara stopped singing. Their bright red eyes didn’t leave the statue. “I think I got it. Come on.” Frisk hesitated before leaving. The sweet song flowed through the tunnels. It was so calming and peaceful. They could stay there forever if they could…

          Frisk shook themselves and back-tracked to the piano room. They sat down at the piano and set their fingers on the keys. They tapped the keys to tune of their hum. _do de do do do-de-do do, do de do do do-de-do do…_

          _Thunk!_ Frisk stopped humming and lifted their hands. A section of the wall to the north fell away. Flowey perked up. “Oh! You did it! Let’s see what terrific treasure has been revealed.” Frisk got up and trotted into the room. It was a plain, square room. The only object there was an alter holding a scarlet orb. The sign above it was long since faded. “Wow this is difficult to read. Um… it’s a legendary artifact. Take it?”

          Frisk nodded. Though they attempted to pick it up, they found that they couldn’t put it in their bag. Somehow, their bag was full. Frisk set down the orb and looked through their bag. A little white dog was curled up within it. Frisk gently picked the little thing up. “Oh. Hello, there! What are you doing in my bag?” The dog opened its dark brown eyes and yawned. Upon seeing Frisk, it’s tail began to wag. It barked. Frisk set the little thing down with a pat. “There you go little guy. I don’t know how you got in my bag, but you shouldn’t be there.” The dog barked again.

           “Let’s just get that artifact,” Flowey persisted.

          Frisk stood up straight and reached for it. The dog leaped upon the alter. It jumped onto the artifact and sank its entire weight into the ball. The dog phased through it and landed on the now empty stone alter. With a happy bark, it jumped down and raced out of the room. In its wake, a husk roughly shaped like a dog lay upon the alter. Chara stood beside them and tipped their head. “ _Dog Residue- Dog-shaped husk shed from a dog's carapace._ ”

           “Dog Residue…? Um? Okay?” Frisk picked up the residue. It collapsed into a hardened ball. Although it looks liked it could flake apart, it stayed completely intact. Frisk turned and walked back down the tunnels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who ever said Echo Flowers were friendly?


	3. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I swear we'll start to pick up the pace. But first... why not stop and smell the flowers?

          Farther into the tunnels, they saw that more water fell from the ceiling like rain. Large water puddles splattered about the ground. Frisk took another tan umbrella and strolled down the raining tunnel. They couldn’t help but look down at their rippling reflection. “Yes, it’s you,” Flowey stated, craning his neck so that he was as far away from the water as possible. “Can we keep moving?”

          Frisk nodded and walked around the puddle. However, it didn’t take long before they splashed into a puddle. With a giggle, they began splashing about in the puddles.

           “What are you _doing?”_ Frisk stopped upon hearing Monster Kid’s voice. They turned to see the young monster tucked into a crevice where the water could not reach him.

           “I’m playing in the puddles. Wanna join me?” Frisk prompted.

           “I… why are you intentionally getting yourself wet?” he questioned.

           “Because it’s _fun!”_ Frisk called with a laugh. “Come on! Join me! You’ll have fun. Just try and jump from puddle to puddle to see if you can.”

           “At least put me down first, please,” Flowey requested.

          Frisk nodded and set Flowey down relatively out of the way with the umbrella over him. “See? Now I don’t have an umbrella, either!”

          Monster Kid looked both ways down the tunnel before creeping out. He winced as water splattered off his spikes and ran down his scales and striped sweater. He jumped into the same large puddle that Frisk was in. Water splattered onto Frisk’s legs. The playful young human bounded from puddle to puddle. Monster Kid followed suit. Soon enough, the distrustful monster was chasing Frisk around. His large feet were able to splash more water than Frisk’s dainty feet. Although he nearly tripped over himself multiple times, Frisk helped him keep his balance. Frisk nearly tripped over a rock at one point, though they found Monster Kid’s tail helped keep their balance.

          Eventually, the two soaked children found themselves too tired to keep going. So, they sat down in the dry crevice that Monster Kid had been sitting in previously.

          Frisk took out the bicycle in their bag, snapped it in half, and offered the second piece to Monster Kid. “Want a snack?”

           “Um, sure. Thanks.” He took the unicycle in his mouth and held the stick between his knees to eat it more easily.

          Monster Kid looked about and then back at Frisk. “So, where’d you learn that you liked water so much?”

           “Well, back home, it used to rain a lot,” Frisk answered. “So, when it rained, my sisters and I would go splashing in the puddles. It was super fun. Don’t you guys do that?”

          Monster Kid shook his head. “I live in Snowdin. Plus, my parents say that I have to be really careful that another monster might come and attack me. So, I study for school and practice fighting most of the time. We don’t have too many opportunities to splash around in puddles.”

           “Why are you here then?” Frisk inquired.

           “I… ran away,” Monster Kid admitted. “I got tired of all this… fighting and studying. I heard about how Undyne is such an amazing fighter. So, I thought I could follow her around and learn how to fight from _her_ rather than my _parents._ In training, my sister _always_ falls behind so it’s so frustrating trying to learn. She’s not a good fighter. My parents think she’s going to die as soon as she leaves the house. They never told us that, but we overheard them talking about it.”

           “Oh dear! That’s _terrible!_ ” Frisk gasped. “Well, hopefully, your sister is alright. Hopefully, you and your people don’t have to keep fighting.”

           “…I went to that concert,” Monster Kid admitted. “Plenty of people did. I didn’t think I’d see a time where so many people were… _happy._ When people weren’t fighting. My mom said monsters are meant to fight. That’s why we don’t get along too well. Even my parents have… arguments a lot. So, how did you get that many monsters happy?” He turned his bright gaze on Frisk again.

          Frisk smiled. “Music makes all sorts of people happy, of course! Shyren is super talented. She’ll make a lot of people smile.”

           “Shyren doesn’t sing, though,” Monster Kid pointed out. “She’s too shy to.”

           “Maybe she just needed some encouragement. After all, she was doing most of the singing,” Frisk pointed out. “You can feel really scared to do something. But sometimes, all you need is a little push. What do you want to do when you grow up?”

          Monster Kid looked at them in surprise. “What?”

           “Like, profession,” Frisk explained. “I want to be a dancer. What do you want to be?”

           “…part of the Royal Guard,” Monster Kid admitted. “You know, no one’s really asked me that before. I’d like to fight alongside Undyne and kick butt!”

          Frisk laughed. “Well that sounds fun! Oh! Maybe we can catch her hunting down some bad guys and see her in action. Want to go find her?”

          Monster Kid nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! Let’s go!”

          Frisk jumped up and grabbed Flowey and the umbrella. She held out for Monster Kid to stand under as well. They took both sticks that Monster Kid and Frisk had used. Monster Kid strolled alongside them, bright eyes flicking about the walls.

           “You know, one time, the king came to our school,” Monster Kid informed them. “He insisted we called him ‘Mr. Dreemurr’. He came to teach us about the barrier.”

           “Really? The king came to your school?” Frisk gasped.

          Monster Kid nodded. “Yeah! Doesn’t your king visit your school?”

          Frisk shook their head. “No. So, what happened?”

           “Well, he taught everyone about the barrier,” Monster Kid explained. “That we need seven human souls to break it. Then, once all the souls are taken, we’ll get to go out to the surface! We need to study really hard so that we’ll be smart enough to go there, too. Stupid people can’t go to the surface. Stupid or weak monsters will get killed. So, we have to be smart. Anyway, that got me thinking about Undyne. What if she got to visit the school? We’d learn so much more about fighting than our gym teacher could ever teach us!” Monster Kid puffed out his chest.

          Eventually, they emerged from the raining tunnel. They walked alongside a massive cliff. Crystals glimmered in the ceiling. Far away, a lighter blur in the distance showed off the castle. Monster Kid and Frisk stopped to look at the view. “So, that’s the castle?”

          Monster Kid nodded. “Yeah. The King rarely ever leaves it. Visiting the school was the first time he’s left in _years._ He hasn’t been outside since. The castle is pretty big and full of people. The city has the most monsters in the entire Underground.” Monster Kid turned and beckoned them to move.

          Frisk stayed by his side. “This place is really big.”

          Monster Kid nodded. “Yeah. But it’s pretty small once you get used to it. There are so many monsters here, you know.”

          Frisk nodded. “It’s kind of sad that there’s so many people here but it ends up in violence. Hopefully, that will change soon enough.”

          They entered another raining tunnel.

           “You are too positive,” Monster Kid pointed out. “That’ll get you killed.”

          Frisk shrugged. “If you’re not optimistic in a rough place, what can you be? Mad? Scared? I don’t like being mad or scared.”

          They walked in silence for a few more feet. They passed an umbrella stand. A cliff just a little too tall for Frisk and Monster kid to climb over stopped them. Monster Kid looked up. “This cliff is too steep… hmm… Say, you want to meet Undyne, right?”

          Frisk nodded. “I’d like to see her.”

           “Cool. Go put that umbrella away and climb on my shoulders.”

           “What about you?” Frisk inquired as they put the umbrella away.

           “I’ll be okay. I can always find another way around. I always do,” Monster Kid reassured them and knelt by the cliff. Frisk reached up and set Flowey down on the ledge. They carefully climbed onto Monster Kid’s shoulders and crawled onto the ledge. “See you later!” Monster Kid called.

           “Good luck! See ya!” Frisk called back and waved. Monster Kid ran away.

           “So… what was that about?” Flowey inquired.

          Frisk held Flowey close to their chest as they walked. “What was what?”

           “Playing in the water and talking to that kid. We have a long way to go.”

          Frisk shrugged. “He looked like he needed to have a nice time. He was pretty down. And I was right! Plus: it was really fun. You know what they say: it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey! It’s nice to stop and smell the flowers every once in a while.” They chuckled at their small joke and went on, “Did you ever play like that as a kid?”

          Flowey looked ahead and nodded. His tattered petals hid his face. “Yeah. I had another sibling. We’d go everywhere together and play. We had snowball fights, splashed in puddles, played hide-and-seek and tag… it was really fun. Oh, look. Some more signs.” Flowey perked up and looked at the signs. A glittering yellow light was between the two signs on the walls. Frisk’s fingers phased through the light.

          _“Splashing in the puddles with a new friend fills you with determination.”_

          Flowey craned his neck so that he could read. “‘The humans, fearing our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly, and without mercy.’ … ‘In the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak. Not a single soul was taken, and countless monsters turned to dust…’”

          Frisk’s feet fell on a wooden floor. Below them were many paths of wooden walkways on different levels. “Aw. Well, most humans have forgotten monsters exist and very few think they’re real. So maybe, there won’t be another war. If we’re nice and monsters get along, then they definitely won’t have a reason to attack!”

          Flowey couldn’t answer. As, although he tried, he cut himself off. A glowing blue circle ahead of them froze Frisk in their place. Another one popped up behind them. Another was to the side. Suddenly, a dozen circles surrounded them. Giant spears shot up as high as Frisk was tall before vanishing. Undyne appeared below them.

          Frisk and Flowey yelled in fright and raced away. The pathways were so confusing that they ran into many dead ends. When they did, spears raced up to meet them. Frisk’s drenched shoes splattered the ground and slowed them down. Flowey attempted to whack away some of the blue dots before harm could come of them. However, his vines phased through the glowing blue circles rather than banish them. He didn’t touch them while a spear sprouted from them.

          Eventually, Frisk was able to stagger out of sight of the lower pathway in which Undyne was on. Unfortunately, they appeared at a dead end. Frisk whimpered, turned, and attempted to run back. The giant, haunting shape of Undyne froze them in their tracks. Frisk and Flowey could only watch in open-mouthed, wide-eyed horror as Undyne stalked forward. A straight line of spears appeared above them. They came down at the speed of bullets shot from a gun. The wood between Undyne and Frisk was splintered into smithereens. Frisk and Flowey shrieked as they dropped from wooden trail. Undyne watched them fall before turning and stalking off.

 

          _“It sounds like it came from over here… Oh! You’ve fallen down, haven’t you… Are you okay? Here… get up. … Chara, huh? That’s a nice name. My name i s .  .  .”_

 

          Frisk opened their blurry eyes and got up. They put a hand to their head with a groan. Beneath them, they could feel the soft petals and stems of golden flowers. Frisk coughed and looked about. “Flowey?” There was no response. “Flowey? Flowey! Where are you? Can you hear me?!” They looked about and jumped up.

           “H-here!” Flowey wheezed and sputtered. Frisk looked down. Flowey’s head just barely appeared over the lip of the water. His vines wrapped tightly around some waterlogged shards of the wooden planks they had once stood upon. However, each time a vine attempted to pull Flowey up, the wood snapped and only put him further into the water.

          Frisk immediately dropped to the flowery ground and picked up Flowey. He let go of the planks in an instant. However, when Frisk pulled them out, the boot vanished into the water. Flowey’s roots became exposed. His vines vanished. “Oh dear!”

           “It’s alright,” Flowey denied. “Leave it. That old boot was soggy anyway.”

           “If you want. But, how will you move? You can’t swim,” Frisk pointed out.

           “Um… hmm… how about this?” Flowey stretched out his roots. Vines popped out of his stem. They wrapped around Frisk’s upper arm. “Now you don’t have to carry me!”

           “Oh, that’s so cool!” Frisk gasped. “Too bad we didn’t think of this earlier.”

           “Yep. But, uh, it isn’t that comfortable,” Flowey stated and looked about.

          Frisk nodded. “You’re a bit vulnerable there, if we find a monster. Maybe something like a bag or backpack or something? You can stay hidden if you need to, but help if you can, as well!”

           “Hmm… well, whatever it is, this is the best place to find it,” Flowey stated. “We’re in the dump.”

           “The dump?” Frisk echoed and began to hop from fractured plank piece to plank piece.

          Flowey nodded. “Yeah. Trash from the surface falls down through the waterfall here. Monsters pick over it and that’s how we got a lot of technology.”

          Frisk nodded and looked about. A golden glimmer sparkled from between two trash heaps under a waterfall. The current tugged at their legs as Frisk, up to their waist in water, waded over to the golden sparkle.

          _“Viewing this endless cycle of useless garbage, it fills you with determination.”_

          Frisk looked about and hopped off the piece of wooden platform. They ended up in the river. Frisk gasped and stumbled as the current threw off their balance and tugged them away. However, they straightened themselves out before Flowey could intervene. Frisk looked about. The dump, which was a collection of blue and muted shades of garbage, lay behind them. Before them was a waterfall that fell into the black. Frisk tipped their head. The sound of rushing water faded at it fell down. “What’s this?”

           “A waterfall,” Flowey explained. “It falls into a bottomless pit. Literally no one knows where it goes. Whatever falls down here _never_ returns.”

           “Really?” Frisk looked over the bottomless pit. They were reminded of the pit that they’d encountered. It was so deep they couldn’t see the bottom. Anything that fell down there couldn’t survive. It would never be seen again…

           “Frisk?” Frisk was jolted out of their thoughts by Flowey. “Are you okay?”

           “Huh? Yeah. Sorry. Just lost in thought.”

           “Well, okay. We need to go find something in the dump for me to travel in.”

           “Okay. Then, maybe we could find something useful here.” They couldn’t see anything. However, they pulled out things from the garbage heaps at Flowey’s command. They had to go about multiple garbage heap piles, often climbing on top of them, before finding what they wanted. A small blue backpack with one zipper to open it and a pouch on the side to hold a water bottle was pulled from the trash. It was relatively intact so it could hold some dirt. “Now all we have to do is find some dirt.”

           “ _Dry_ dirt, please,” Flower requested.

          Frisk nodded as they threw the backpack over one shoulder. “Of course. I hope we find it soon!”

          Flowey nodded. “Yeah. Let’s hope so. Let’s get out of here as soon as possible. I’m beginning to lose feeling in my roots.”

           “Got it!” Frisk jumped off the trash heap with a large splash. Flowey pulled himself out of the way of the splash. Frisk was soaked up to the chest, now.

          Eventually, they found a mobile cooler with two packets of astronaut food in them. The only reason it didn’t float away was due to the fact that its old handle was stuck under some heavy garbage. Frisk collected both packets and continued to wade through the tunnel. At the end, they could see an incline out of the water and to a new place. A dummy stood next to the last pile of garbage. It looked quite similar to the one in the Ruins. Frisk stopped and looked at it for a few moments. Their heart grew heavy as they remembered Toriel and their short battle lesson. They turned and continued on. A hearty _splash_ alerted them to something behind them. Frisk jumped and looked back. Flowey narrowed his eyes. “It’s gone.”

          Water ahead of them splashed. The dummy launched itself from the water between them and the incline. It hovered about a foot or two above the water. “Hahaha… too intimidated to fight me, huh? I am the ghost that lives inside of a dummy! My cousin used to live inside a dummy too. Until… YOU CAME ALONG! When you approached them, they thought they were in for a nice conversation. But then the things you did-! It scared them right out of their dummy! HUMAN! I will scare your soul out of your body!”

          Frisk’s soul appeared before them. Mad Dummy blocks the way!

          _“Mad Dummy- Attack 30, Defense YES. HP ??? Because they’re a ghost, physical attacks will fail.”_

           “Foolish. Foolish! FOOLISH!” Mad Dummy cried. Little dummies were summoned around them. They threw white, glittering scribbles at them. Flowey gasped and helped them wade from side to side. Unfortunately, the water slowed their movements. They had to duck and jump many times. Water dripped from their hair and streamed down their face. Mad Dummy hissed in pain as the brunt of the magic attacks hit him. He shuttered and growled. “OWWWW, you dummies! Watch where your aiming your _magic_ attacks!” Mad Dummy’s eyes flew open. “F-forget I said anything about magic!”

          Mad Dummy looks nervous.

          Frisk took a step back and held up their hands. “I’m not fighting you.” Mad Dummy cackled and summoned more dummies. Frisk’s soul began to crack in multiple places as the magic attacks began to hit them. Mad Dummy barked in hate as his own magic attacks hit him.

           “I’ll take your soul and cross the barrier myself!” Mad Dummy cackled and summoned more dummies. Frisk’s soul began to crack further as more attacks hit them. More attacks hit the dummy as well.

          Mad Dummy barked, “I’ll get to sit in the window of a fancy store!” This time he began to move. That didn’t stop Frisk from tricking its dummies into hitting him. “THEN ALL I WANT WILL BE MINE!” Frisk dodged a few more attacks. Unfortunately, they didn’t hit the dummy. “Yeah, I guess that’ll avenge my cousin,” the ghost muttered, mainly to himself. Dummies began to launch themselves at them. They splashed into the water at quite a high speed. Cracks formed in Frisk’s soul as they attempted to dodge and trick the magic attacks.

          Mad Dummy shuttered as they were hit again. “What was their name again…?” Most of the next attack was the dummies that launched themselves at Frisk. “Whatever. Whatever! WHATEVER!” Mad Dummy barked. Frisk gasped and ducked as more attacks sped at them. Mad Dummy growled in anger as more magic attacks hit them. “Futile. Futile! FUTILE!” Mad Dummy screamed. Unfortunately for him, the dummies missed Frisk completely and hit him again with quite a bit of force. “Hey guys!” The dummies appeared. “Dummies. Dummies! DUMMIES! Remember how I said not to shoot at me? Well… FAILURES! YOU’RE ALL FIRED! YOU’RE BEING REPLACED!” The miniature dummies slowly retreated from the battle area. “Hahaha. Hahaha! HAHAHA! Now you’ll see my _true_ power: relying on people who aren’t garbage!” Mechanical whirrs began to fill the room. “Dummy bots! Magic Missile!”

          Mechanical dummies popped out of the ground. Missiles were launched. When Frisk dodged, they followed them. They squeaked and skipped about. Eventually, the missiles ran out of fuel and crashed into Mad Dummy. “Dummy bots! Try again!” he barked. The mechanical bots appeared and shot at them. The missiles missed completely and hit Mad Dummy. He shuttered and asked in surprise, “Dummy bots? You’re awful?” The dummy bots missed again. “Grr-! Dummy bots! Final attack!”

          The older dummy-bombs appeared and launched themselves at Frisk. They missed. Dummy bots appeared all around them. Frisk yelped and attempted to run into a circle. Although most flew off to hit Mad Dummy, quite a few hit Frisk. They staggered a stop as the last of the missiles left. Oh, they didn’t feel too good…

           “N… no way,” Mad Dummy hissed to himself. “These guys are even _worse_ than the other guys!” Mad Dummy snarled and raised his voice in a bark, “Who cares. Who cares! WHO CARES! I DON’T NEED FRIENDS! I’VE GOT KNIVES!” A knife appeared beside him and launched itself at Frisk. They side-stepped the attack. Mad Dummy hesitated. “I’m… Out of knives.” He hissed and raised his voice, “But that doesn’t matter! YOU CAN’T HURT ME AND I CAN’T HURT YOU! YOU’LL BE STUCK FIGHTING ME… Forever. Forever! FOREVER!” Mad Dummy cackled and began to laugh maniacally. Eventually, raindrops began to fall from above. The dummy shuttered and shook himself as the drops hit him. “Wh… what the hell is this?! Ergh! Acid rain?! Oh forget it. I’m outta here!” Mad Dummy slipped away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get it? It's funny because he's a flower.


	4. Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yee-haw! Let's get on with it! It seems that Undyne got a bit sloppy, eh? Or... did she have something else in mind?
> 
> Anyway, the most original chapter name ever, I know. I'm just about as good at naming things as King Asgore is.

          Napstablook phased through the roof and came into existence before Frisk, who held Flowey, in the waist-deep water. “heh… he ran pretty quickly, didn’t he? as soon as i came over, he immediately left. he looked like he was having fun. huh. i wanted to say hi.”

          Frisk’s cracked soul phased back into their body.

          Napstablook went on, “well… i’m going to head home now. feel free to follow me if you want. you don’t have to.” He hovered up the incline.

          Frisk hurried to follow him onto dry land. The next room was large with three tunnels to the top, one to the left, and one to the right. A large pool was in the center of the room. A glimmer appeared just before them. Napstablook hovered before the middle tunnel near the top of the room. “My house’s up here if you feel like coming.” He turned and phased through the door of the house farther into the room. Frisk touched the glimmer with their fingers.

          _“The calm tranquility of the area fills you with determination.”_

           “Do you think we should visit?” Frisk questioned as they knelt beside the pool.

          Flowey slipped into the ground. “I don’t know… I don’t see any reason to do so.”

          Frisk began digging up dirt with their hands and pouring it into the backpack. “It might be nice to talk to him.”

           “You like to talk to everybody,” Flowey pointed out.

          The young human chuckled. “Yeah, I kind of do.” They rinsed off their hands in the small pool and gently put on the backpack. They zipped up either side so that the dirt wouldn’t spill out the sides.

          Flowey’s vines picked him up into the backpack, where he planted himself. “Not bad.”

          Frisk smiled, got to their feet, and wandered around the pool. They about went to Napstablook’s house when they caught side of another house at the top left. Frisk, interested, walked into this small area. A house the shape of a giant fish head dominated the space. The two windows and door even looked like narrowed eyes and sharp teeth. Little fins popped up the sides. Fins cropped up from the top all the way to bottom. A tail slipped out from behind the house. Mad dummy was in a short training area in the front. “I wonder who lives here.”

          Flowey narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know and I don’t have a feeling that I want to. Let’s go before the owner catches us.”

          Frisk nodded, turned, and trotted out of the small area. Napstablook’s house, which was immediately next door, was interesting. It was in the shape of Napstablook, being a slightly curved, rounded cylinder. A little roof was on the top and a window somewhere on it. A second house right next to it was bent in the opposite direction. Napstablook’s was blue and the one next door was pink.

          Frisk rolled up their pant sleeves, set their shoes outside, and then looked about the house as they entered. It was small with a fridge to one corner, a TV next to it, and a computer next to that on the corner. Three CDs lay on the floor in the southern end of the room. Upon entering, they disturbed Napstablook, who was at his computer. “oh. decided to come, eh? i wasn’t expecting that. meh. make yourself at home. just… try not to touch anything.” He turned around and continued to scroll through whatever was on the computer. He stole glances at the young human and the flower on occasion.

          Frisk approached the TV. All knobs but one were dusty and unused. The relatively used one was labeled “POWER ON/OFF”. Napstablook looked at the TV. “that’s my tv. i like to watch a show on it, occasionally.”

          Frisk looked over to their computer. “What are you up to?”

           “huh? just on a music sharing site,” Napstablook answered. “it’s full of crap. someone should put something decent on there. may as well be me.”

          Frisk smiled. “You make music? Can I listen to some?”

           “there are a few cds over there. go nuts. just, don’t break them.” Napstablook turned back to the computer.

          Frisk knelt beside the CDs. “Ghouliday Music”, “Spookwave”, and “Spooktunes.” Of all three of them, the scratchy, haunting tune of “Spookwave” was their favorite.

          Napstablook looked back as Frisk had stood up. “spookwave, huh?”

          Frisk nodded. “Mhm! You made them yourself, right?”

          Napstablook nodded. “yeah. they’re good. hey, uh… did you want something to eat?”

          The young human perked up. “Oh! Sure. Thank you!”

          Napstablook hovered over to his fridge. Frisk was close behind him. Flowey watched the ghost in suspicion. “here. this is ghost sandwich.” The translucent sandwich hovered before them. Frisk attempted to grab it. They phased right through it. “oh. guess it only works with ghosts. oh well.” He put it back into his fridge. “after a good meal, i like to lay down and contemplate on what our family has done. it’s a family tradition. do you want to join me?”

           “Oh! Sure!” Frisk chirped. “I’ve never heard of a tradition like that before.”

           “…alright.” Napstablook hovered to the middle of the floor and lay down. Frisk set down the backpack with Flowey next to Napstablook and lay down beside Flowey. “just lay down. get up whenever you want to.”

          Frisk stared up and ceiling without a word. Eventually, the room began to fall away. Stars of the night sky began to fizzle within their vision. Frisk stole a glance at Napstablook. The stars reflected in his eyes. Flowey’s head was tipped back as well. He watched the ‘sky’ above with round eyes.

          Frisk lost track of how long they lay there, contemplating their decisions and watching the shifting night sky above. However, Frisk had to get up. They needed to get to the king as soon as possible. The young human stiffly got to their feet. The night sky fell away. It was promptly replaced with the house. They put on their backpack again.

          Napstablook looked at Frisk. “well… that was nice.” He turned and floated back to his computer.

           “Well, we have to go now. Bye!” Frisk waved at Napstablook. He gave them a short “’bye” in return.

           “That was… strange,” Flowey commented as they left.

          Frisk put their shoes back on again. “Yeah. But it was fun. That reminds me. I should talk to Pap. We haven’t called in a while. We could talk about that monster who’s trying to kill us!”

           “Are you kidding me?” Flowey prompted. “We shouldn’t talk to him more than necessary.”

           “Well, um, this is sorta necessary,” Frisk pointed out. “We were just attacked!”

          Flowey sighed deeply. “Give me the phone.”

           “Thanks!” Frisk squeaked and pulled out the electronic device.

          _Brriii-_ “HELLO? THIS IS PAPYRUS!”

           “Hello, Papyrus!” Frisk purred.

           “HUMAN! YOU HAVE CALLED ON YOUR OWN!” Papyrus crowed. “GOOD JOB!”

          Frisk beamed. “Really? So, you aren’t bothered that I called?”

           “NOT AT ALL! CALL ME WHENEVER YOU WISH. I’LL TELL YOU IF I’M BUSY. NOW, WAS THERE SOMETHING YOU WISHED TO ASK?”

          Frisk hesitated and then nodded. “Huh? Oh! Right! Hehe. Well, I was just wondering about your monster friend- the one in the armor.”

           “CAPTAIN UNDYNE?” Papyrus prompted.

          Frisk nodded. “Mhm. Well, we just ran away from her again. What does her house look like? We just saw this empty house in the shape of a fish.”

           “YOU’RE AT UNDYNE’S HOUSE?” A slight caution edged his voice.

           “Not really. I mean, we were. But we were only visiting Napstablook. Flowey kind of rushed me away. Why?” Frisk prompted.

           “I WOULD STRONGLY ADVISE THAT YOU DO NOT VISIT HER AT HER HOME,” Papyrus stated. “SHE IS VERY UNFRIENDLY IF SHE FAILS AT SOMETHING. IF YOU GOT AWAY FROM HER, THEN SHE WILL BE IN A VERY FOUL MOOD.”

           “Oh, I get it. What happens if I don’t get away?”

           “SHE’LL KILL YOU INSTANTANEOUSLY.”

           “Oh.” Frisk hesitated. “That doesn’t sound good. Say, do you visit her often? Are you friends?”

           “FRIENDS? …WE’RE NOT AS MUCH _FRIENDS_ AS SHE IS MY _SUPERIOR_ ,” Papyrus replied. “FEW PEOPLE MAKE GOOD FRIENDS HERE, HUMAN. MOST RELATIONSHIPS ARE ROMATIC OR BETWEEN RELATIVES.”

           “Oh. That stinks.” Before Frisk could properly think over their words, they prompted, “So what about you and Sa-ans?” Their words wavered near the end. Flowey stared at them.

          There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

           “U-uh! I mean! Um, I’m sorry. Hehe. I meant to say something different. Um-! I, uh–”

           “SANS AND I ARE FINE,” Papyrus stated. “HE’S INSUBORDINANT, WEAK, AND LOUSY AT MOST THINGS.” Papyrus let out a great sigh. “SO, AS USUAL, I HAVE TO BE THE RESPONSIBLE ONE. HE GETS INTO TROUBLE EVERYWHERE HE GOES SO I HAD TO MODIFY HIS DEVICE TO NOT ONLY ALLOW ME TO TRACK IT, BUT ALLOW HIM TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME. ONE WOULD THINK THAT HE WOULD UNDERSTAND GOADING BIGGER MONSTERS LEADS TO CONFRONTATIONS THAT I AM REQUIRED TO SETTLE. BUT IT SEEMS AS IF HE DOESN’T.”

           “So, you know where he is?” Frisk prompted. “And you make sure that none of the other monsters get him?”

           “YES. I JUST SAID THAT. TELL ME, HUMAN, DO YOU HAVE YOUNGER SIBLINGS?” Papyrus prompted.

          Frisk hesitated. “Um… one… I h-ha… have an older sister and had a younger sister. But neither seemed to get into any trouble. I was always the trouble maker.” Frisk chuckled. “I was the one who seemed to stumble into all sorts of things. You don’t know how many things I’ve broken and fights I’ve picked purely on accident and how Cammie had to pick up after me so much.”

           “OH? I ASSUME THAT YOU ARE BETTER BEHAVED NOW. I NOTICED, OF COURSE, THAT YOU HAVE GOOD BEHAVIOR FOR A YOUNG HUMAN.”

           “Thanks!” Frisk purred. “Sorta. I mean, I was a bit of a brat at first. Most of what I did was on accident. But then I got mad because of the ‘accidents’ and people blaming me. You know how it is. I’m blind and my hate being treated differently. But it’s okay, now. I’ve kind of tempered myself. Flowey’s helping me a lot, too. Since I don’t have Cammie, I kind of need someone else.” Frisk smiled at Flowey. “And Flowey’s an awesome friend.”

           “YOU DON’T HAVE ‘CAMMIE’? WHAT HAPPENED?”

          Frisk’s smile vanished. “Uh, what? Did I say ‘I don’t have her’? Silly me. I’m in the underground. So, I don’t really have anyone from the surface. Hehe. It kind of works that way when you fall into a one-way trap, eh?”

           “…OF COURSE.”

           “Thanks so much for talking, Papyrus!” Frisk purred. “You’re a great friend!”

           “I’M A- WELL, OF COURSE! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I CAN BE GREAT AT ANYTHING! INCLUDING BEING A COOL FRIEND. IF YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSE, YOU MAY CALL ME!”

           “Thanks! I’ll talk to you later!” Frisk purred. _Click._

           “What was that about?” Flowey prompted.

           “Nothing,” Frisk replied. “I just, uh, wanted to talk to him for a bit. We’re friends, right? I am a bit hungry, though. Good thing I grabbed those snacks from the cooler.”

          Frisk sat down against the wall and pulled out on the packets of astronaut food. It wasn’t too big, so they were able to eat it as a snack. However, as soon as they ate it, the signature freeze-dried-astronaut-food-taste hit them. They dropped the bag and put a hand on their mouth.

           “Whoa! Are you okay?” Flowey gasped and looked over the packet.

          Frisk forced themselves to swallow the snack. “Blegh. N-not… not eating th-that again.” They bit their tongue to keep themselves from throwing it back up again.

          Flowey snatched the extra packet as well as the trash from the first and stuck it in one of the larger pockets in the backpack. “Well, let’s rest up a bit. Don’t go eating anything you find in the _garbage_.”

          Frisk nodded. “L-lesson learned.” Eventually, after some deep breaths and not moving, Frisk stood up again. “That was fun. So! Uh, what’s down here?” They trotted down to the right side of the room, through the tunnel. To the north was a door and to the south a tunnel branching off from the main one. A little trans dimensional box sat on the right of the door. Frisk and Flowey peeked down the tunnel to the south. It just led to a river. When they entered the door to the north, they entered the shop of an elderly tortoise.

           “Wa-hah-hah!” the elderly monster laughed. “Look at we have here- a little human kid, hmm? Whatcha doin’ here, kid?”

           “Oh! I was just curious,” Frisk informed him. “What do you have here?”

          The tortoise waved his old hand. “Take a look.”

          Flowey looked over the items and prices. “Crab apples are 25g, which heals you of course. Sea Tea–which makes you faster?­–is 18g. Some clouded glasses are 30g and the torn notebook are worth 55g. Since we don’t need any of them, let’s go.”

           “Um… okay. How are you doing, Mister?” Frisk prompted. Flowey rolled his eyes.

           “I’m Gerson, formerly known as the Hammer of Justice!” Gerson announced. “What’s your name, little one?”

           “I’m Frisk! Frisk Foster!” They puffed out their chest happily. “Um… I don’t have a title. Haha. Are you a hero?”

           “I was,” the tortoise answered. “I fought so long ago. But these old bones aren’t meant for fighting. Not anymore. Undyne, though! She’s the hero, now.”

           “She is?” Frisk tipped their head. “She must be really honored!”

          Gerson nodded. “Oh yes. I remember when she was just a little urchin. She’s come a long way since then. She used to follow me around when she was little and watch me beat up bad guys. She’d even try to help! Sometimes they weren’t actually bad guys. But I appreciated it! Wa-hah-hah!”

           “Oh wow. You were a guard? That’s so cool!” Frisk gasped. “You know, you must know a lot about history, right?”

          Gerson nodded. “Yeah. It’s easy learning history when you’ve lived most of it! Wa-hah-hah!”

          _“Ask him about that emblem,”_ Chara advised.

           “So, you know what that emblem is?”

           “Eh? You don't know what that is? What are they teaching you kids in school nowadays...? Wa-hah-hah! That's the _Delta Rune_ , the emblem of our kingdom. The Kingdom... Of Monsters. Wa-hah-hah! Great name, huh?” Gerson smirked.

          Frisk nodded. “What does it mean? Do you know?”

          Gerson nodded. “Oh. That emblem actually predates written history. The original meaning has been lost to time… All we know is that the triangles symbolize us monsters below, and the winged circle above symbolizes… Somethin’ else. Most people say it's the ‘angel,’ from the prophecy...”

           “The prophecy?”

           “Oh yeah... The prophecy. Legend has it, an ‘angel’ who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom. Lately, the people have been taking a bleaker outlook... Callin’ that circle the ‘Angel of Death.’ A harbinger of destruction, waitin’ to ‘free’ us from this mortal realm.”

          Frisk frowned. “That’s sad. Well, I know that’s not true! Everyone will be free one day! Just have hope!”

          Gerson gave them a soft smile. “I wish more people would have your heart, kid. You have spunk. I appreciate that. Wa-hah-hah.”

          Frisk smiled. “Thanks, Mr. Gerson. You have a great day! …actually, may I have a crab apple, please?”

           “Sure thing, kid. Actually, you’ve been such a treat. How ’bout I knock off a few g. twenty g for the crab apple,” Gerson offered.

          Frisk dug through their bag and presented the coin. “Here you go!”

           “Thanks! Wa-hah-hah. Be careful out there, kid!” he warned.

           “I will. Thanks!” Frisk waved and trotted out of the shop. When they inspected the crab apple, they found it to look quite a bit like a crab.

           “Why?” Flowey prompted.

           “I like apples!” Frisk answered. “Besides, I need to get that awful taste out of my mouth. Blegh.” The apple tasted like a very juice crab as well as looked like it. It was still sticky like an apple, though. “Mr. Gerson was really fun to talk to, as well. You always have to be respectful to your elders.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Respect your elders!


	5. Muns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A field of echo flowers... They babble back and forth to each other... until their words become meaningless noise. Creepy, huh?" ~Undyne
> 
> Yeah! Let's continue to frolic through echo flowers because that has worked so well for us in the past!

          Frisk walked back down the trail. Echo flowers cropped up along the rivers and waterfalls. For now, they were quiet. They whispered to one another in fields of bioluminescent grass and flowers and crystals.

          Flowey perked up as they nearly passed the sign. “Here’s another few signs. Want me to read them?”

          Frisk nodded as finished off their apple. “Yes, please.” They took out the trash from their astronaut food, stuff the apple core in it, and stuffed it back into their backpack.

          Flowey looked over the text. “‘Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrendered to the humans. Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell. Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful soul can leave.’ … ‘There is only one way to reverse this spell. If a huge power, equivalent to seven human souls, attacks the barrier… It will be destroyed.’” Flowey urged them on again. “There’s a river here. Be careful. It isn’t that deep, though.”

          Frisk nodded and slipped into the water. The rush of the waterfall’s current tugged at their legs. _“Who’s there?” “Something moved, I swear it.” “It’s so very cold…” “Someone will come.” “Please don’t come near!” “Help! Help me!” “No! Run away! GET AWAY!” “I’ll kill you! I swear it!”_

          Frisk stopped and looked about. The voices came from every which direction- even above and below them. They were so distracted in their search that they couldn’t even register Flowey’s vine squeezing their wrist. “Frisk?” _“The water is too quick. We can’t cross.” “These flowers are everywhere…” “Someone’s listening…” “Do you think we’re safe?” “I’m not going to make it… it’s so cold…” “Behind the waterfall! Please!” “we’re all going to die.”_

          Frisk clamped their hands over their ears and shook their head. “N-no! No! Quiet! Be quiet!” _“Solp’s the’e?e!ening…” “Do! Rthininmoved, sAW?ar it.” “It’elsoHery me!dto die.” “Sekieyoe!wilatoaret!Please!” “NleaRu flon’t somETery!AY!ere…”_ “Shut up! Shut up!” _“It’elo! Herye?e…!” “ToeRefdowryomET AWAY!ere…” “I’lsmloynu!scsweanit…!” “I’me wateringtovequick. Wit’itan’tcooss.”_

          The voices seemed to grow louder and louder the longer they stayed. “Stop it! Stop!” _“NehRuflowery!arfallveWAhere…” “So’rillane **’sinstenidit…!” “Be yse doinwwe’relnefe?ase!” “Thenotfloringtooreaick it… it’reso cros…” “Sohintflthe wsterd,ll! PLEASETRE…” “PE’P! HDON’NEOMDIEEAR!”**_

           “SHUT UP! GET AWAY!” Frisk cried and, head down, eyes closed and hands over their ears, attempted to run in a random direction. They couldn’t see anything. They couldn’t hear anything beyond the screaming flowers. When they attempted to run in the direction of the river, something snapped at their ankles and chest. Frisk staggered back and bolted in the opposite direction. Immediately they were drenched as they ran straight into the waterfall. They tripped over a rock and landed heavily within the confines of a small cave. Flowey’s boot hit the wall with a heavy _thump._ Frisk scrambled to get as far away from the waterfall as possible. The voices were masked beneath the rushing water. Even then, they were starting to quiet down.

          Frisk whimpered and curled up into themselves. Tears rolled down their cheeks and smudged their soaked clothes. For a while, the only noise within the waterfall-cave was their choking and gasping. Water attempted to trickle into their nose and mouth from their soaked hair. They just snorted or coughed and wiped the water away with one of their hands.

          Eventually, when Frisk’s sobs had toned down to tiny sniffles and whimpers, Flowey piped up in a quiet voice, “Frisk?” Frisk opened their eyes but did not raise their head. “Hey, Frisk. Hey it’s alright. We’re past the terrible part.”

           “How many?” Frisk whimpered.

           “Oh, I’m sure we’re past the two biggest,” Flowey encouraged. “This is one of the worst ones, actually. When we get outside, make sure to keep out of the water as much as you can.”

           “Half of this place is water,” Frisk mumbled.

           “I know, I know,” the flower agreed. “But plenty of it is still firm land. We can get through that. Right?”

          Frisk nodded. “Y-yeah. We can. I… I don’t want to be here anymore. C-can we go back to Sans’ and Papyrus’ house?”

          Flowey shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. Besides, we’d have to go back through both flower patches to get there, wouldn’t we?”

          The child nodded. “Y-yeah. Yeah.”

           “Now, once you’re feeling up to it, we can get up and leave. Once we leave this area behind, we won’t have to come back. The flowers can’t yell at us if we’re far enough away,” Flowey pointed out with a serene smile.

          Frisk slowly nodded. “I… I understand.” They looked up to the waterfall. “B-but I don’t want to go out again. Th-they’ll just be there again!”

           “Not if you stay out of the water,” Flowey pointed out. “It’s just this river that’s the worse. Around us, there are a few more along with the marshy area. But the farther away you get, the longer it takes to wake them up and more difficult it gets to hear them. On dry land, it’ll take a long, long time to get them to start talking loud enough for you to hear them. It’s going to be okay, Frisk. I promise.”

          Frisk got to their shaky feet and picked up Flowey. They skittered under the waterfall and ran out of the short river as quickly as they could. The flowers grumbled upon feeling the water disturbed but quickly became quiet again. Frisk hesitated as another sign was upon the wall. Flowey read, “‘But this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped down here forever.’”

          When they crossed the next river, they met a very dark place. Glowing mushrooms littered the place. A short trail of glowing grass led to a dull clump of mushrooms. Frisk touched the mushrooms. They squeaked and glowed. Another thin trail of grass began to glow. They followed this one as well. Another mushroom clump popped up. By the time they got to the fourth one, they hit a dead end. However, when they turned back to retrace their steps, they took a few too many steps south. Their feet hit even ground unlit by bioluminescent grass. The thin trail led straight into door in the cave wall.

           “Er… I have a bad feeling about this…” Flowey warned, eyes flitting about. They arrived within a deep red and brown walled room. Or, rather, a village. Many houses expanded the southern side. In the northern side was a door with a giant sign reading ‘TEM SHOP’ above it. Multiple identical monsters crowded the place. All of them looked like small white dogs with cat tails, faces, and paws. Two cat ears popped up the top of their heads while two dog ears drooped from the sides. Long, dark brown hair fell over the sides of their faces and tied back in tight buns behind their heads. Their tiny white bodies were covered by black suits and red ties. As soon as Frisk and Flowey entered the place, all deep maroon eyes were on them. Even the red and white mushroom far away was tilted as it turned to face them. No eyes could be seen, though.

          The nearest temmie looked up at them with round, innocent eyes and a great kitten grin. “Hoi!” they called. “I’m Temmie!”

           “Hello, Temmie!” Frisk purred.

          The temmie beside the first piped up, “I’m Temmie, too! This is my friend: Temmie!” They tipped their head toward the friend beside them. Soon, all dozen of the temmies were introducing themselves. The last temmie, the one sitting idly beside a small picket sign leading to the shop, turned their head to look at them. A dazed, far-away look fell over the semi-isolated temmie’s deep maroon eyes. “I’m Bob.”

          The first one, tail wagging back and forth with the energy of Lesser Dog, piped up, “You should visit the Tem Shop!” All at once, all of the Temmies cheered and agreed and bounced about. Bob slowly nodded his head. Somehow, the action dizzied him so his head flopped to the side and rested against the picket sign.

           “The Tem Shop?” Frisk prompted. “Cool! Flowey! Can we go?”

          Flowey looked about them. “I don’t know. This place really creeps me out.”

          The first one’s grin widened. Fangs hinted just below the temmie’s lips. “Visit the Tem Shop!”

          The second crowed, “Yes! All supplies a traveler needs! In Tem Shop!”

          Flowey leaned back so that his petals brushed Frisk’s chin. “I don’t like this. We should probably go back up the trail.”

          It was too late, however. In their excitement, temmies had crowded around them. The trail leading out was blocked by a good half dozen temmies. The one who first greeted them tipped their head. A sadness fell over them. “You no… no visit Tem Shop?” The excitement from the rest of the temmies fell quicker than a stone from a cliff. “But… we invited you! To Tem Shop!”

          Flowey’s gaze darted about. “Fine. Let’s… uh… let’s just look and see what they have.”

          Frisk trotted forward. Eventually, they passed up Bob and turned into the Tem Shop. The excited tems bounced around outside.

          The shop was colorful and inviting with all shades of red and gold. All of them were no darker than the deep red of a slightly wilted rose or deep yellow of a pyrite nugget. Even those were only used as small, intricate designs to pop out of the hot pinks and sunny yellows of the wall and counter decorations.

           “Hoi! Welcome to… Tem Shop!” The temmie behind the counter flashed them a grand smile. A gold monocle decorated their right eye. Otherwise, they were dressed like the other temmies. “What would you like, Traveler?”

          Flowey piped up, “Tem Flakes- 10g. Premium Tem Flakes- 20g. Tem University- 1,000g. Tem Drink- 35g.”

           “Tem Drink good with… Tem Flakes!” Temmie chirped. “Tem also buys items!”

           “Buys?” Frisk prompted. “Like… I sell something to you?”

          Temmie nodded. Even more enthusiasm, if that was possible, overcame the temmie. “Yaya! Yaya! Buy traveler things!”

           “I don’t have anything I can sell, though,” Frisk replied. “But, uh, what are Tem Flakes?”

           “Tem Flakes are cereal! Good with Tem Drink! But you have thing- traveler things!” Temmie’s grin now betrayed the presence of overly sharp fangs. “G!”

          Frisk tipped their head. “But you can’t trade g, can you? I mean, you buy stuff with it.”

          Flowey piped up, “We have to leave now. Frisk and I need to leave. We have a very important appointment with Captain Undyne.”

          The temmie behind the counter put her paws on the colorful counter. She pressed her paws down on the surface so hard, her claws unsheathed and glinted in the light. “No! Traveler stay! Travelers will stay with us a little while longer.”

          Two temmies crept up behind them. “The human will stay with us,” the temmie that had first greeted them purred.

          The second growled, “Human will stay with us. For life.”

          The temmie behind the counter pulled out a thermos. The upper third was made of a see-through, glass-like material. The rest was dark maroon with intricate red designs and multiple lights. A silver ring separated the glass and metal. Seven lights–cyan, blue, purple, green, orange, yellow, and red–made a ring below the silver rim. All of them were turned off. “Temmie will get muns.”

           “Muns from you,” the first one stated in a silky voice.

          The second piped up in a rougher voice, “Or muns from your soul!”

          Flowey’s vine whipped out and took a bag of g from Frisk’s bag and set it on the counter. “Th-there! Uh, can we leave now?”

          The first tem grabbed the bag of g and threw it into a barrel. It clinked and jingled as it joined a massive amount of g. “Thank you. Now we can guide you to Captain Undyne! And we will get muns from it. Perhaps extra for catching traitor flower.” Temmie tapped a large button on thermos in which she held. When the button was activated, the top flipped open and a large light turned yellow on the front. The outline of a soul was on the yellow button. The seven colored lights began to glow in a dim fashion.

           “Wh-what’s that?” Frisk prompted.

           “Container,” Temmie answered simply. “It catches your soul when we kill you.”

          The first temmie sniffed the bag and perked up. “Dog Residue?”

           “Dog Residue?!” the temmie behind the counter gasped. “You have Dog Residue?”

          Frisk nodded. “Y-yeah. We do.”

           “Give it to us!” the one behind the counter hissed, eyes wide and teeth bared.

          Flowey shook his head. “No! If you let us go, we’ll give it to you. But if you take us…” Flowey took out the husk and wrapped two vines around it. “I’ll destroy it.”

          Immediately, the two temmies behind them backed up. The temmie behind the counter shut the thermos lid. “Give us Dog Residues! We promise not to hunt you! Or take your soul!”

          Flowey nodded. “Good. Here.” He dropped the husk on the counter. The two temmies behind them swarmed the counter. The one behind the counter snarled and wrapped her arms around it. The two other temmies barked and attempted to jump onto the counter to take it from her.

          Frisk turned around and fled Temmie Village. “I… don’t like Temmie Village,” Frisk admitted.

          Flowey nodded. “Yeah. Me neither. Let’s just… keep going.” Nearer to the beginning of the trail, another trail split off from the first mushroom. After one last mushroom was activated, they got to continue the trail.

          This area lacked mushrooms of any sort. Dimly glowing purple crystals littered the ground. A maze of thin strips of glowing grass curled about the ground. Little lamps decorated different places. A sign hung on the wall next to the first lamp post. Flowey read aloud, “‘Without candles or magic to guide them Home, the monsters used crystals to navigate.’ What does that- oh.” Flowey looked about.

          Frisk attempted to mimic him, but still couldn’t see anything. “What happened? Is it darker?”

           “It’s pitch black!” Flowey exclaimed in exasperation. “Why’d it go black? I can hardly see anything here!”

           “You can’t see anything? Oh dear! What a nightmare.”

           “Frisk, this isn’t the time.”

           “Well, they used the crystals to guide them. Maybe use the crystals,” Frisk advised.

          Flowey squinted and shook his head. “Nope. Feel around. Is there anything…? Ah!” The grass maze was illuminated again. The crystal lights dimmed out of existence due to sheer contrast. “There. We just need to touch multiple lamps around the maze to keep the grass lit up.”

           “That sounds fun!” Frisk purred as they trotted down the trail.

           “Everything is fun to you,” Flowey smirked.

          Frisk giggled. “True!” The grass was very dark. Frisk touched a lamppost. The grass glowed again. Although they ran into many dead ends, they eventually found a wall in which led them to a long, small room. There was a small trail of illuminated grass, which gradually began to darken. It led, however, into a pond. Frisk stepped in and nearly fell. The water was chest deep! Spooked, they waded as quickly as they could forward. The dying light dimmed into nothingness. They crawled onto land. At the very end, leaning on a wall, was an echo flower.

          _“B E H I N D   Y O U.”_

          Frisk whipped around. Light returned to the area. Undyne, at the edge of the pool, watched the human and their flower. For the first time, Undyne spoke to them. “Seven. Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king… King Asgore Dreemurr… will become a god. With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity… and give them back the suffering and pain that we have endured. Understand, human? This is your _only_ chance at redemption. Give up your soul, or I’ll tear it from your body.” Undyne slipped into a battle stance. A spear appeared within her hands. With a hiss, Undyne charged them. Frisk and Flowey back up against the wall until they could move no more.

          Before Undyne’s spear could meet Frisk’s heart, Monster Kid jumped out of the grass hanging from the wall nearby. “Ha-ha! Undyne! I’ll help you fight!” Monster Kid looked between Undyne, whose spear still pointed straight at Frisk, and Frisk, whose wide eyes now flicked between Undyne and Monster Kid. “Ha! You found her, too! We got front row seats to her fight!” They kid looked between Undyne and Frisk again. “…wait. Whose she fighting?” With a sharp sigh of exasperation, Undyne took Monster kid by one of his frills and dragged him away. Her spear vanished. “H-hey! You aren’t going to tell my parents about this, are you?”

          Frisk fell to one knee and put a hand to their thundering heart. “Oh… my… goodness.”

          Flowey brushed his head against Frisk’s. “Hey! Frisk. We’re okay.”

           “She… nearly _killed_ me!”

           “But she didn’t?”

           “If Monster Kid wasn’t here… if he hadn’t interrupted her… she’d have… sh-she’d have-!” Frisk whimpered, tears forming in their dull eyes.

           “Whoa, whoa!” Flowey gasped. “It’s alright! He did come in and save the day, right? H-he got her off you. But now we have to go, okay? We have to go before she comes back. M-maybe you won’t even have to fight her if you hurry! Come on, Frisk. Get up!”

           “I regret everything I said about her.” Frisk whimpered again and shakily got to their feet. From the center of the pond, a trail of glowing grass led straight up. Frisk waded through the deep pond again and through to the new trail. This trail was thicker. It led to a tunnel that was partially flooded so Frisk’s feet got wet again. Echo flowers, all strangely silent, littered the ground in the thin tunnels.

          Flowey glanced back at his trembling friend. Biting back a sigh, he called, “Howdy.”

          _“Howdy.”_ Frisk perked up.

          Flowey continued, “Har, har, har.”

          _“Har, har, har.”_

          Frisk smiled and giggled. The flower imitated them. Unfortunately, Frisk couldn’t stay long. They hardly had time to say “Look behind you~!” before Flowey rushed them. At the end, a sign hung on the wall. “What’s that?”

          Flowey read aloud, “‘However… there is a prophecy. The Angel… The One Who Has Seen the Surface… They will return and the underground will go empty.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Points to whoever remembers the Fenton thermos.


	6. Asparagus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asparagas: A-spear- _ag_ ainst-us.
> 
> Haha I'm clever and witty!
> 
> ~~why am i like this~~

          Frisk and Flowey encountered a rickety bridge just outside of the crystal-flecked tunnel. They crossed it with ease. It was near the end of the long bridge that they were stopped. They turned around.

          Monster Kid raced down the bridge and stopped before them. “H-hey! It’s you. I know I’m not supposed to be here, but… I need to ask a favor of you. Yo… you’re human right? Heh… I knew it. Well, I know now. Um, well, Undyne told me to ‘stay away from that human’ so… I guess that’s you. So, I guess that makes us enemies, me being a monster and you a human. Normally I’m good at it but… I just can’t hate you. So, uh, say something mean so I can hate you?”

           “Why?” Frisk questioned. “I mean, why can’t we be friends? Even if we’re different?”

           “Yo, Frisk, you’re really nice but humans are our enemies you know. So, just, tell me something bad, okay? To, uh, make me feel better?” Monster Kid requested.

          Frisk hesitated. “Um… uh… you’re a c-clumsy no good monster.”

          Monster Kid tipped his head. “Huh…? _That’s_ your idea of mean? Pfft. My sister tells me that all the time! Guess I have to do it, then.” He straightened himself out. “Yo. I… you’re a… stupid human. …darnit.” Monster Kid rolled his eyes. “Yeah I stink at this. I’d better go home.” He turned and ran away. Unfortunately, he tripped and fell. With a cry of surprise, he bit down on the bridge and clawed at the beams holding it up with all his might. His tail wagged back and forth in an effort to keep his balance. “H-h-help! I-I fell!”

          Undyne appeared at the other end of the bridge. She held up her hand to summon a spear but hesitated upon seeing Monster Kid. She took a step forward to aid him. However, Frisk was already by his side. The human wrapped their arms around his neck and chest. Flowey’s vine ensnared his waist and upper chest. Together, they dragged the kid onto the bridge.

          Once he was stable, Monster Kid stood up. Frisk and Flowey let go. Immediately, he whipped around to face Undyne, head low and tail whipping back and forth. “Yo! If you want to h-hurt my friend, th-then you’re going t-to have to get p-past me, first!” Monster Kid puffed out his chest to make himself look bigger. He narrowed his eyes and bared sharp teeth. Unfortunately, his stutter and size did not make him that threatening despite his spikes, teeth, and clawed feet.

          Undyne took a few steps back, hesitated, and then walked away.

          Monster kid turned back to Frisk. “She’s… she’s gone. You really saved my skin there. Guess, uh, being enemies was just a nice thought. Haha… Guess we’ll have to be friends instead. I should really get home. My parents must be worried… Welp, see you later!” The kid turned and raced away.

          Frisk gave him a small wave. “He’s… that was really brave of him.”

          Flowey nodded. “Yeah. You did a great job, Frisk. Now, let’s not let his bravery go to waste. I think we’re at the end of Waterfall, anyway.”

          The human sighed and nodded. “Oh, that’s good.” They turned and trotted off of the bridge and through the tunnels. Soon enough, after a small amount of walking and another bridge, the tunnel opened up into a cave. A rocky outcropping with a hole at its base was the entrance to the next tunnel. The cave system opened up around them. Crystals glimmered in the ceiling.

          Frisk and Flowey continued forward. They were stopped dead by a loud voice above them.

          Undyne, perched on the rocks above, glared down at them. “Seven. Seven humans souls and King Asgore will become a god. Six. That’s how many we’ve collected thus far. Understand? Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed. First, however, as customary for those who make it this far… I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people. It all started, long ago…” Quite suddenly, her dark voice sharpened. “No. You know what? Fuck it! Why should I tell you that story, if you’re about to die?!” Undyne’s midnight metal fingers caught on her helmet.

          _Clang!_

          The metal instrument that protected her head and hid her face clanged down the rocky outcropping. She glowered down at them with one orange, slit-pupil eye. Her left eye was covered by an eye patch. Fins sprouted from the sides of her blue head instead of ears. Her long red ponytail flowed back over her armor. She bared her fangs in a twisted grin. “ _YOU!_ You’re standing in the way of everybody’s hopes and dreams! Our history books taught us that humans were a fierce race, hardy and combative. But you? You’re just a _coward!_ Hiding behind that kid so that you could run away from me again. And let’s not forget your goody-two-shoes shtick!”

          Undyne laughed, baring every razor tooth she could and creating a harsh sound that mimicked a laugh, though it could have been a mocking bark. “Oooh! I’m making such a difference by hugging random strangers!” Her twisted grin returned and her voice evened out. “You know what would be more valuable to everyone? If you were _dead!_ That’s right, human! Your continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I can feel everyone’s hearts pounding together! Everyone’s been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we’re not nervous at all. When everyone puts their hearts together, we can’t lose! Now, human! Let’s end this right here, right now. I’ll even give your coward hide a chance to prepare yourself. Step forward when you’re ready to _die!_ Fuhuhuhuhu!”

          Undyne crouched and set one hand on the stone before her. Her sharp gaze did not leave Frisk. Frisk looked back at Flowey. “Th-this is it, then?”

           “Don’t… don’t give up, Frisk!” Flowey encouraged. “W-we can do this! We can…” His voice lowered to a breath. “You’re fast. We can do this.”

          Frisk gave him a curt nod. “I… I want to try talking to her first.” A glimmer of yellow light appeared to their right. Frisk’s fingers passed through it.

          _“The wind is howling. Your greatest challenge so far is before you. You are filled with determination.”_

           “You were literally whimpering about her trying to kill you a few minutes ago.”

           “I-I know. I shouldn’t have said that.”

           “You’re a strange kid, Frisk.”

          Frisk shut their eyes and took a deep breath. “Flowey, she’s good, fast, and strong. I’m going to need your help now more than ever.”

          Flowey nodded. “I will not let you down, Frisk! I promise!”

          Frisk smiled. “Thank you, Flowey. Let’s… let’s get this over with.” Frisk looked up. Undyne looked like a hungry cougar, perched in the rocks and teeth bared in the anticipation of a meal. Frisk took a step forward.

          Undyne hissed in glee and laughed, “That’s it then? Well here I come!” A spear materialized in her hands. The monster leaped from the rock and landed between them and their exit. Her spear cracked into the earth and sunk a few inches into the stone. Frisk’s soul appeared before them. Undyne tore her spear out of the stone. “En guarde!” Undyne cried with a wave of her spear.

          Frisk jumped. Their soul turned green. For some reason, they could not move. It was as if chains wrapped about their ankles and anchored them to the ground. Undyne snapped her spear in half and threw the staff at Frisk. Frisk caught it and held it close.

          _“Undyne- Attack 60, Defense 30. HP 1800. The heroine who NEVER gives up.”_

          Undyne sneered, “As long as you’re _green_ you can’t _escape!_ Unless you learn how to face danger head on… You won’t last a _second_ against me!”

          Crystal spears appeared before them. As soon as they formed, they launched themselves at Frisk. Frisk raised their staff. Each time a summoned spear hit the staff, the summoned one evaporated.

           “U-Undyne!” Frisk pleaded once the last spear dissipated. “I don’t want to fight you!”

           “I wouldn’t either!” Undyne laughed with a venomous smile. This time, the wicked spears materialized all around the and shot forward.

           “L-Left! Left!” Flowey yelped. Frisk whipped around, holding up their spear-shaft. The last of the spears vanished. “Right! D-D- FRONT! FR- RIGHT!” Flowey stammered as he attempted to instruct them as fast at the spear came.  Their heart began to crack.

           “I won’t fight you!” Frisk stated.

           “For years we’ve dreamed of a happy ending…” Undyne admitted, ignoring Frisk completely. “But for years the possibility never came true.” More spears were summoned. Frisk gasped and blocked each one they could. Flowey’s direction aided quite a bit as the spears were small. They were blue approaching, but flashed a blood red upon getting too close. Although it helped, it still wasn’t good enough. Their soul cracked further.

           “Now, sunlight is just within our reach!” Undyne crowed and summoned another circle of spears. These ones were slower. A plethora of spears circled and struck. Although they were slow, they were so close together, Frisk couldn’t discern spear from spear and had to spin around so fast they made themselves dizzy. “I won’t let you snatch it away from us!”

          Frisk, hardly concentrating on Undyne’s words, matched each spear thrown at them. When they turned back to her, Undyne flashed a menacing smile. “Ngahh! Enough warming up!” Spears came more quickly this time. Frisk manage to block them all. Then, the spear Undyne held flashed out. It phased through their soul and turned it red. Their spear shaft vaporized. Another spear approached. Frisk ducked and took a step back. They could move!

          They attempted to run past her. A wall of spears appeared. Frisk cried out in fear and took a step back. Spears spun into existence and shot at them. Frisk jumped back and ran forward and side-stepped the absurd about of spears. Once the volley was over, Frisk looked up at Undyne. She didn’t look tired in the _least._

          Without hesitation, Frisk slipped under Undyne and raced away. Their soul was absorbed into their body again. Undyne gave chase. Flowey gasped, “Oh- run faster! She’s catching up!”

           “I can’t!” Frisk gasped. “I’m going as fast as I can!”

           “SHE HAS METAL ARMOR ON! HOW?!” Undyne raced ahead of them. Their soul appeared before their chest. They skittered to a stop before they could hit Undyne.

           “Enough running away!” Undyne barked. “Honestly, I’m doing you a favor…”

          Spears shot up to make a cage around them. Blue circles began to glow under them. There was only one spot at a time that didn’t glow blue. Once the attack was over, Undyne swung her spear at them. The wall of spear vanished. Frisk’s soul turned green. The spear shaft appeared in their grasp.

           “No one has made it past Asgore.” Spears came at them from the front and the back. Some were quick, some were slow. Frisk’s back hurt from the amount of times they had to spin around and around to catch the spears. By the time the attack was over, Frisk felt dizzy.

           “So, killing you now is an act of mercy,” Undyne growled. The sudden thought of Toriel crossed their mind. A barrage of arrows shot at them. A golden spear raced toward them at the end. Frisk had little time to wonder about its color when it flew around to their other side. Frisk yelped in pain as the final spear tore through their soul, shattering it like glass. _Shirk. Chink!_

 

          _You cannot give up just yet… Chara! Stay determined…_

 

          Frisk and Flowey woke up by the golden light, by their last save point. Frisk took a shaky breath before engaging again. Undyne did not seem to have any recollection of their death. That was fine; Frisk did not like the idea of Undyne boasting further.

          Six more attempts were made before they got farther than before.

           “So, stop being so damn resilient!” Undyne snarled and waved her free hand. Arrows popped up _everywhere._ Frisk couldn’t dodge them all. By the time the barrage was over, they felt dizzy. Mercifully, their soul turned red. They ducked another arrow. They raced forward.

          Undyne inevitably caught them, straight under an electronic sign that had letters that moved. “WELCOME TO HOTLAND” was spelled in bright red letters. They were so close.

           “Erg! Enough running away!” Undyne snapped. Their soul turned green. Without hesitation, Frisk nearly swallowed the cinnamon bunny whole. Most of the cracks vanished. “Alphys told me that humans were determined…” More spears attacked. Gold mixed with red as they sped at them. Flowey gripped the spear shaft and spun them around to block many of them. Flowey couldn’t possibly talk fast enough to give them appropriate directions. By the time the barrage ended, Frisk’s head was fuzzy. Undyne turned their soul red.

           “I see now what she meant by that.” This time, spears formed a circle around them. They spun and closed in on them in large, shrinking circles. Frisk had to dart out of the openings provided. Each time a circle vanished, another appeared. They were completely trapped. By the time the attack was over, Frisk’s mind had cleared enough for them to run away.

           “DODGE!” Flowey cried. Frisk’s eyes grew round. A spear, summoned outside of their fight, formed and shot. It tore into their shirt and chest. _Shirk! Chink…_

          _You cannot give up just yet… Chara! Stay determined…_

 

          Frisk could hardly get past Undyne. Their soul shattered again and again and again. They reappeared at the golden sparkle again and again and _again._ Frisk dodged and ran and blocked as fast and hard as they could. Yet, each time they fought, each time they died, they found that they were getting better.

          Seven more tries later, Frisk made it to the farthest they’d gone in that battle. _“WELCOME TO HOTLAND”_ glowed in red dots that moved across a giant electric sign.

           “But I am determined, too!” The spears came fast- too fast. Cracks formed in their soul. Frisk blocked each spear as best as they could, though the barrage of golden spears at the end cracked their soul further.

           “Determined to end this right now!” The spears came faster. Green mixed with blue. They were too fast for Flowey to help through words. He tapped their sides with his vines to show which direction the closest spear was arriving.

           “Ngahh! Die already, you little brat!” Undyne spat. Golden arrows mixed with blue and red. Frisk whipped around and caught as many as they could. By the time the barrage was over, they nearly dropped the spear shaft for injury and exhaustion. Their soul turned red and they ducked the spear.

          However, as Frisk and Flowey raced away from the infuriated Captain of the Guard, their phone rang. Frisk picked up the phone. “H-Hello? I-I’m kinda busy!” they wheezed.

           “HUMAN? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHAT HAS KEPT YOU BUSY FOR SO LONG? YOU SAID THAT YOU WOULD’VE CALLED ME BY NOW!” Papyrus complained.

          Frisk squeaked and glanced back. Undyne was pressing in closer. A cluster of spears flew at them. Flowey hissed, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! TELL HIM WE’RE BUSY!”

           “I’m s-sorry! I’m super b-busy right now. I’ll call you later, okay?” Frisk promised and hissed in surprise as they nearly tripped over a spear that rushed up from the ground. Blue circles appeared in the path before them.

           “HOW LONG IS LATER?”

           “I-In a few minutes! I swear to God, I will call you back in a few minutes!” Frisk wheezed and side-stepped a spear that Undyne threw from behind. “I have to go now! Sorry! I’ll call you back! I promise! Bye!” _Click._ Frisk ducked as the spear was waved at them.

          They sped out of the tunnel. Heat blasted into them so suddenly that they nearly tripped over themselves for the climate change alone. They stood now upon hard, red stone. Lava boiled beneath them, long enough away to keep from heat stroke but close enough to feel its heat and see its light. In a sentry station just outside of waterfall, Sans pretended to sleep. One eye was opened slightly to watch Frisk run. His sardonic smile widened and he snickered at their overwhelming fear.

          Flowey hissed at him. Sans flicked his fingers. A wall of bones appeared. The way to the bridge above a lava pit was blocked. Undyne, cackling in glee, stopped behind them. Sans pretended to go back to sleep. Frisk held up one hand and backed up until they were right before the bone wall. “U-uh! Um! We don’t h-have to fight. No one has to die t-today.”

           “Can it, Human,” Undyne growled and pointed her spear toward them. One hand touched something on her belt. It looked like the thermos Temmie owned. “Your soul belongs to me.”

           “Like h-hell it does!” Flowey squeaked. A round of friendliness pellets destroyed three of the bones in the wall. A vine whipped out and tore Undyne’s ponytail back. She gasped and took a step backward. One of her spears cut his vine in half. “AGK! Go! RUN!” Flowey’s injured vine retreated into his backpack. Frisk squeezed between the bones and raced down the bridge. Sans waved his hand. The bone wall vanished. Undyne gave chase. However, by the time Frisk’s feet hit warm stone, Undyne’s movements had slowed. They turned back to see Undyne, wheezing and gasping.

           “Armor… so… hot…” she wheezed. Sweat dripped down her face and armor. Undyne took another step forward. “But I can’t… give up…” Undyne’s spear vanished. The fish monster took a few more steps forward and then collapsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As any true fan would know, I based this story off of my runs: pacifist and genocide. I played pacifist prominently because this IS a pacifist novel, but there are some genocide-dialogue/fights. Sans is the most popular one, but Undyne's there, too. I promise. However, it's sort of difficult completing the behemoth that is Undertale Pacifist, doing a True Reset so that no dialogue is hindered, and then re-doing a Genocide. Now, I have no qualms about redoing the Genocide Route because it was really fun, but it takes time.  
> So I had to look up some of the finer details that I couldn't remember- like the exact battle dialogue and sequence of battle turns. That's not to mention "Battle Against a True Hero" and "Spear of Justice" are two of my favorite songs. I also found a really interesting reply thread on YouTube about Underfell. So I take from that, too. <3
> 
> So! Here you have it! If you want to know, I had three internet tabs open for this one.  
> Undertale- Undyne boss fight: https://youtu.be/nYU7e6R6NEg  
> Undertale- Undyne the Undyne boss fight: https://youtu.be/y-bLD_K9Ayc  
> Underfell original: http://fav.me/dawprxj


	7. Fish out of Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get it?
> 
> No, but really. They just barely escaped the horrible battle was was Undyne! (I probably beat Undyne the Undying in a dozen or so tries so that's why that's the amount I put there, if anyone's curious). Anyway, guess we have to move on... right?

          Frisk gasped and approached the fish monster. She twitched and groaned but otherwise didn’t react to Frisk’s presence. Flowey’s eyes grew round. “Oh no. Oh no! You are _not_ going to help her! …you are, aren’t you? Darnit.” Frisk turned around. A water cooler was in the corner. They darted toward it and filled a paper cup with water. It was by no means cold. However, it wasn’t too hot. Frisk turned around and walked over to the overheated woman. Captain Undyne half-opened her eye to look up at them. Frisk knelt and poured water over her head and back.

          Captain Undyne shook her head, coughed, and shakily got to her feet. She looked about, stared at Frisk for a few moments, and then walked away.

          Frisk sighed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

           “Yeah. She could’ve killed us, Frisk! Right after you helped her!” Flowey pointed out.

          Frisk shook their head and approached the water cooler again. “No. She was doing what was right for her people. If she knows that I mean no harm, then she won’t fight me, right? Besides, she was very weak. Now… what did Papyrus want?” Frisk held up the phone for Flowey. He used a vine to tap in the correct numbers. As he did so, Frisk took up another cup and offered it to Flowey. He denied it with a shake of his head. So, Frisk drank it.

          _Brriiing. Briiin-_ “HELLO? HUMAN! IS THAT YOU?”

          Frisk smiled. “Yeah, Papyrus! Sorry I couldn’t talk to you earlier. What did you want to talk to me about?”

           “OH! I WANTED TO SPEAK WITH YOU ABOUT CAPTAIN UNDYNE! YOU SEE, SHE’S CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD. SO, IF SHE KNEW YOUR QUEST, THEN SHE WOULDN’T FEEL THE NEED TO KILL YOU! I, OF COURSE, THEN KNEW THAT THE RIGHT THING TO DO WAS TO INVITE YOU OVER TO CAPTAIN UNDYNE’S HOUSE SO THAT WE COULD TALK THIS OVER!” Papyrus proclaimed.

          Frisk nearly choked on the water they had just drank. “T-talk to Captain Undyne?” Flowey’s eyes widened in sheer surprise.

           “YES, HUMAN. DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?”

           “O-oh I did! I am just surprised is all,” Frisk chuckled. “Um… I would love to. But, don’t you think she’ll attack me first?”

           “NOT IF YOU ARE A HOUSE-GUEST!” Papyrus claimed. “SHE’S BOUND BY HER HONOR! THAT’S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY SHE WANTS TO KILL YOU! BUT IF YOU ARE AN HONORABLE PERSON WHO IS HELPING US, THEN SHE WILL SEE IT DISHONORABLE TO KILL A PERSON IN SERVICE TO THE KINGDOM! A SMART PLAN, YES? OF COURSE, IT IS. I MADE IT. MEET ME AT CAPTAIN UNDYNE’S HOUSE. IT IS RIGHT NEXT TO NAPSTABLOOK’S HOUSE AND NEAR THE DUMP. DON’T BE LATE!”

           “O-okay! Of course!” _Click._

          Flowey stared at Frisk. “What are you doing?”

           “Do you… um… want a glass of water?” Frisk offered. “It’s good.”

           “Frisk, you’re not going to Captain Undyne’s house. Please tell me you’re not!”

           “I have to, Flowey!” Frisk whined. “Papyrus is expecting me to be there. Besides, maybe we can work this out with Captain Undyne and she will help us!”

          Flowey shook his head. “Please, Frisk. This is serious. She’s not like everyone else. She will kill you!”

          Frisk took a deep breath. “I know. But we have to try. Besides, if we’re killed then we’ll just… come back here, right?”

          Flowey let out a deep sigh. “This better work. Give me some water, please.”

          The young human smiled and watered the ground he was in with the warm water from the cooler. Then, they turned and trotted to the next area. Their cup evaporated. A yellow glimmer was in the center of it. Behind it was a giant laboratory. Frisk’s fingers brushed the glimmer.

          _“Seeing such an ominous laboratory in a place like this fills you with determination.”_

          They turned and went down. A river was there, under the hot red steps and into a tunnel below. A boat was guarded by a hooded person sat upon it. “Hello…” the hoarse voice whispered.

          Flowey immediately shook his head. “Wh-what is this? I don’t like it.”

           “Who are you?” Frisk inquired.

           “I am the River Keeper,” the voice rasped. “I control the boat. If you want to go somewhere, I’ll drop you off at one of the docks… for a price. 2g a ride.”

          Frisk looked through their bag. At the bottom, a few stray g had escaped their little purse that Temmie had taken. “Okay. That sounds nice. Can you take us to Waterfall?”

           “Waterfall… yes…” The hooded figure took the gold provided by Frisk. The young human sat down in the boat. “Now we’re off…” The tunnel walls flowed past them as the boat swam through the water. “Beware the man who speaks in hands…” the River Keeper warned.

          Once they got to the Waterfall Dock, the boat stopped. Frisk jumped nimbly out. “Thank you! Have a nice day!”

           “Good luck…”

           “That was pleasant,” Frisk purred.

           “You shouldn’t trust random monsters, Frisk,” Flowey pointed out and sighed. “But these conveniences really make it hard to drive the point home.”

          Frisk walked up and the turned to the quiet place just off the river. Captain Undyne’s house was at the very top-left corner. Papyrus, chest puffed out and proud as ever, stood before her fish-themed house. Piano music drifted from within. His sharp eyes flicked to Frisk. “OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! GOOD! ARE YOU READY TO ‘HANG OUT’ WITH CAPTAIN UNDYNE? I HAVE THE GREATEST PLAN TO MAKE YOU TWO AT LEAST AGREEABLE ACQUAINTANCES! NYEH-HEH! READY?”

          Frisk nodded. “Yeah. Flowey! Hush! We can’t mess this up.” Flowey stuck his tongue out and retreated into Frisk’s backpack.

          Papyrus turned and knocked on the door. The piano music stopped immediately. The top row of teeth on the door slid up while the bottom slid down. Captain Undyne stood at the door. Without her armor, she looked smaller, thinner. A ragged black shirt with a red heart broken by a spear dressed her along with long black pants. Her vicious teeth were bared in a nice smile. “CAPTAIN UNDYNE! I HAVE COME UPON YOUR REQUEST.”

           “You have,” Captain Undyne agreed. “Now hurry along. We’ve got to get to business.”

          Papyrus smirked. “OF COURSE! AND, I BROUGHT A FRIEND WHO WOULD BE WELL SUITED FOR THIS!” He stepped aside.

          Captain Undyne’s sharp eye turned to Frisk. “A friend? Well, hello. I don’t believe we’ve… met…” Her smile immediately turned into a grimace. Her sharp eyes flicked from the human to Papyrus. When he didn’t speak, she hissed through her teeth, “Why don’t. You two. Come in?”

          Papyrus strode inside after her. Flowey squeaked, “Can’t we just, not go? She’s really, _really_ mad! Um, I think we have to, uh, be somewhere. Like, drowning in lava or something.”

          Frisk’s smile wavered. “I-I know. But there’s no going back now.” The door snapped shut behind them. They jumped at the noise and action.

          Captain Undyne’s gaze flicked constantly between Papyrus and Frisk. “So. Are we ready to start?”

           “YES!” Papyrus agreed and then hesitated. “ACTUALLY… I FORGOT SOMETHING. YOU TWO GET STARTED. I’LL BE BACK.” He turned and swept out the door.

          Captain Undyne glared at Frisk. All color was lost from Frisk’s face. “So why are _you_ here?” she growled. “To rub your victory in my face? To humiliate me further? Is that it?”

          Frisk squeaked, “N-no.”

          Captain Undyne huffed, “Then why are you here?” Before Frisk could answer, Captain Undyne sneered, “Oh I get it. You think I’m going to be friends with you, huh? _Right?”_

          Flowey shivered from inside their backpack. “J-Just, uh, b-be careful. Yes, maybe?”

          Frisk gave a short nod. “Y-yes.”

           “Really? How delightful! I accept! Let’s all frolic in the fields of friendship!” Captain Undyne laughed. Flowey stopped shivering and peeked out from behind Frisk’s head. Frisk stared at her in disbelief. However, their disbelief was quickly put away by Captain Undyne’s abrupt change of mood. “Yeah _right!_ Why would I _ever_ even _try_ to befriend you? If you weren’t my houseguest, I’d spear you right now. You’re in the way of everyone’s hopes and dreams!” Again, Captain Undyne managed to show off every one of her teeth, as if to intimidate Frisk and Flowey further. Was there such a level of anxiety and fear beyond what they felt for Captain Undyne right then? “I will _never_ be your friend. Now get out of my damn house before I force you.”

          Papyrus appeared by the open window. “DAMN. WHAT A SHAME. I THOUGHT CAPTAIN UNDYNE COULD BE CIVIL WITH YOU, MAYBE EVEN FRIENDLY. BUT I MUST HAVE OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE’S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE. OH WELL.”

           “CHALLENGE?! What?!” Captain Undyne gasped. “Papyrus! Wait a…! Dammit.” Captain Undyne turned her gaze to Frisk again. “Heh. He thinks I can’t be nice to you? HA! I’ll be so nice to you that you’ll have no choice then to be my friend! That’ll show him!” she sneered and widened her toothy smile. “Uh- have a seat.” She gestured to her large table decorated by a fancy doily with a fish imprinted on it.

          Flowey tapped Frisk on the shoulder and then on the ground. The young human jumped, nodded, and trotted over to the table. They had to climb up into the seat as it was made for people as big as Papyrus and perhaps someone like Toriel. Flowey looked back up to Captain Undyne.

           “Comfortable? Good. I’ll get you something to drink.” Captain Undyne strode over to the fridge and took out various things- a box, bottle, container, and can. “All set! What would you like?”

          Frisk squinted and attempted to get up. A spear materialized and launched itself at the table. Frisk and Flowey screamed in surprise and fear. The table before them snapped in half with a spear digging into the ground at the center.

           “Hey! Don’t get up!” Captain Undyne snapped and then straightened herself out. “Er- how about you use just point to what you want. You can use the spear.”

          Frisk picked up the end of the spear. It was too big and heavy for them to hold. “Um… what’s there, Flowey?”

           “Sugar, soda, hot chocolate, and tea,” Flowey listed.

           “Oh! Point to the hot cocoa, please,” Frisk purred. “That’s my favorite drink.”

          Flowey’s vine crept out and grabbed the spear. It turned to point at the blue can of hot cocoa.

           “Huh? Hot chocolate?” Captain Undyne glanced at the contained to Frisk and Flowey. “Well o- oh, wait, wait. I forgot. I stopped buying the stuff. It’s too much of a hassle since King Asgore kept getting marshmallows in his beard.” She flashed a toothy smile, though it didn’t look too genuine. Flowey pointed the spear to the tea boxed beside it. “Tea, huh? Well, it’s the best choice, I’ll admit. You wait there.” Captain Undyne strode over the boxes of tea and began to shift through them.

           “What tea is she getting?” Frisk breathed.

           “Well… it’s a yellow container. I don’t know,” Flowey whispered back.

           “Okay.” Frisk shrugged. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s good. You can’t go wrong with tea, right?”

          Captain Undyne put on a teapot to boil. “It’ll take a minute,” she explained without looking back. “So, don’t hold your breath.” Eventually, steam rushed out of the teapot. Captain Undyne messed with it a little bit before holding up a cup in her hands. “It’s, uh, ready!” Frisk smiled as the captain set the teacup on the uneven surface of the table and sat on the opposite side. “Careful. It’s hot.” Frisk gently blew on it. Captain Undyne sighed in exasperation, “It’s not THAT hot! Drink it already!”

          Frisk nodded and took a sip. It’s burning. But other than that, it was pretty good.

           “It’s pretty good, right?” Captain Undyne chuckled. Frisk smiled and nodded. “Nothing but the best here, of course!” A sudden sigh escaped her. “It’s funny you chose that tea. Golden Flower tea. That’s King Asgore’s favorite kind. You kind of remind me of him… the younger him.” She chuckled. “You know, when I was a kid, I tried to fight King Asgore, just to prove to everyone how tough I was. He’s… well, emphasis on _tried_. I couldn’t land a single hit on him. Yet, worse than that, he wouldn’t even fight back. Afterward, he commented on my fighting spirit and offered to train me. Then, one day during practice, I managed to knock him down. Funny. I actually… felt bad about it. But God damn did he look proud. Long story short, he kept training me and now I’m Captain of the Royal Guard.” She puffed out her chest upon speaking her title. “So now _I_ get to train people to fight! Like… er… Papyrus.” Her smile fell.

          Frisk tipped their head. “Huh? What’s so bad about that?”

          She shook her head. “Kid, you probably won’t understand this but… being part of the royal guard means putting every bit of yourself into fighting, into defending. The guard? They’re good at their jobs. The dogs… aren’t so that’s why they’re in Snowdin. It’s the softest place in the Underground. Don’t you _dare_ tell Papyrus this but, the reason he wasn’t promoted, and probably won’t be, is… well… you. Not too much you in specific, but how he treated you.”

           “What?” Frisk’s eyes grew round. “He can’t be promoted because he didn’t catch me?”

          Captain Undyne shook her head. “He’s merciful. He can’t kill. You probably got in a fight with him, yes?”

          Frisk nodded. “Yes. He blocked my way out of Snowdin.”

           “But you’re alive,” The Captain of the Royal Guard pointed out. “He couldn’t physically kill you.”

           “He wanted to capture me to send me to the king!”

           “He had explicit orders to kill on sight. But what did he do? Put you through puzzles,” Captain Undyne pointed out. “Then gave you the opportunity to _prepare_ for the fight. After you were captured, he healed you and let you go. Is that correct?”

          Frisk nodded and bowed their head. “Y-yeah. But he’s a–!”

           “-nice guy,” Captain Undyne cut them off. “I know. No matter how rough he sounds or acts, he’s never killed a single person in his life. He never will. He’s physically incapable of murder. He can make someone just weak enough to die, but will never finish the job. Instead, he captures them and brings their weak hides to me or, in your case, to the king. So, we have to kill them. No matter how much I’ve trained him, he just doesn’t seem to get it.”

           “Why do you have to kill them?” Frisk inquired.

           “It’s what has to be done. Like I said, you’d never understand. Ugh, why did I even tell you?” Captain Undyne rolled her eyes and then hesitated. “Huh. Out of tea already? Well then I’ll get you…” She got up and about strode to the sink. However, she suddenly stopped halfway there. Her eyes widened. “That’s perfect! Human!” She spun around to face Frisk and Flowey. “Nothing has gotten Papyrus and I closer than training! So, if we take a leaf out of his earlier training, we’ll be closer than you can ever imagine! Fuhuhu! Afraid? Well you should be!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS THE END? THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!


	8. Necklace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No pun in this chapter, sorry. This also might be the shortest chapter I've ever written in my life- both in this fan novel and all of my original stories. Huh.
> 
> Whoops ~~college's~~ life's in the way! So I might not be as witty with my titles for a little bit. Haha

          Flowey sucked in his breath. Frisk chuckled, “Oh! Um… thank you very much but I don’t think- eep!”

          Captain Undyne grabbed them by the scruff of their neck. Quite suddenly, they were outside. Mad Dummy sat a few feet away. His eyes were narrowed into a glare at them. Captain Undyne stalked around so that she was in front of the dummy. “Human! What magic do you have?”

           “M-magic?” Frisk squeaked. “I don’t have magic!”

           “Why do you think they were running away all that time?” Flowey pointed out.

           “No magic?” Captain Undyne echoed. “Hmm… well then, physical weapons it is!” She summoned and then snapped her spear and threw the head of it at them. Frisk caught it. It was long enough to wield, but short enough to handle with ease. Flowey wrapped his vines around Frisk’s hands and the parts of the spear they touched to harden their grip. Captain Undyne summoned her own spear, which was much longer. “First of all, you must learn to dodge. You dodged my attacks very poorly last we met,” Captain Undyne pointed out. “Since this is training, we won’t enter a fight.”

           “I-I’m sort of blind,” Frisk pointed out in a quiet voice. “F-Flowey helps me see.”

           “I see. Well, that shouldn’t impede your judgement! When faced with a problem, WORK AROUND IT! Draw your power from your SOUL! Through sheer determination you will defeat your enemies! In this case, it’s me. Now dodge!” Captain Undyne lunged at them. Frisk jumped back and smacked at her spear. The action did nothing. Before she even hit the ground, the captain twirled and swung at them. Frisk ducked. When they attempted to lunge at Captain Undyne, the captain vanished and they ended up overthrowing themselves. Captain Undyne’s spear lashed at their legs. They were on the ground, flat on their stomach, in seconds. “How long was that?”

          Mad Dummy piped up, “10 seconds.”

           “Tsk, tsk. Not even half a minute.” Captain Undyne knelt and held out their hand. Frisk clambered to their feet. Captain Undyne let go and raised her spear again. “Get in a battle stance- quick!”

          Frisk jumped and attempted to mimic Captain Undyne. She sighed and tapped Frisk in the chest. They stumbled back with a yelp as they were put off balance. Captain Undyne’s spear managed to stop them from falling. “S-sorry. I’ve never been taught that.”

           “Well now you will be. You need a strong stance. If you don’t have a strong stance, then you fall and you will die.” Captain Undyne shifted Frisk’s feet and arms with her spear. “Feel that? Once you get into a good stance, your very soul will feel it. Then nothing can get in your way!”

          Frisk tensed and held their spear out before them. They shifted onto the tips of their feet and clutched the spear with strength. She was right. They could feel the power and strength of that simple action. “Y-yeah! I do!”

           “Good.” Captain Undyne slipped into her own stance and held tight her spear. “You can’t see, but you have the potential to fight. Your flower can see, but has no ability to fight. You two are like an arrow head and staff; both can do fine on their own. But their true strength comes from their ability to work together to create a spear! Now, I’m going to strike at you again. Let your instinct guide you. Let your flower be your eyes. Ready? Go!” Captain Undyne lunged at them again.

          Frisk jumped out of the way. They dodged the follow up attack. They turned and brought their spear back. Flowey’s vines simply guided their swing. Frisk put the force behind it. Captain Undyne jumped back with feet lighter than feathers. Flowey, still controlling the direction of the spear, hissed instructions into Frisk’s ear. Frisk, with years of practice in dancing classes, dodged each and every attack. Captain Undyne, full of spirit and devoid of exhaustion, kept on her attack.

           “You’re going to have to fight at some point!” Captain Undyne pointed out. “Even if you don’t want to.”

          Frisk nodded and stepped to the side. However, before either of the two could properly land, Frisk swung their spear at Captain Undyne. She dodged and whacked Frisk’s spear. Both Frisk and Flowey let go of it. They were again on the ground.

          Mad Dummy piped up, “Two minutes, twenty seconds.”

          Captain Undyne helped Frisk up again. “You really suck at fighting. But you’re dodging is much better. Have you done this before?”

          Frisk shrugged. “Kind of? I’m a dancer. So, I guess that helps.”

           “A dancer eh…?” Captain Undyne thought for a moment and then smiled her sharp-toothed smile. “We can work with that. As a dancer, you have to keep moving. Constant, vibrant movement, right?”

          Frisk nodded, an exuberant smile on their features. “Yeah! You move every part of your body and you get to move to the rhythm of the song. You also have to use your whole concentration and your heart!”

          Captain Undyne gave them a curt nod. “That’s what fighting’s all about. Constant moving, full concentration, all of your power and heart! Your spirit of dancing paired with your determination to survive becomes your fighting spirit! Your fast and flowery movement becomes the grace and energy of a fighter! Now, pick up that spear, Human. We’re going again.”

          Frisk trotted over to where the spear had landed and picked it up. They’d hardly turned around when Captain Undyne launched at them again. However, they’d seen this twice before on Captain Undyne alone. They jumped to the side and smacked at her spear. It did nothing, though that was expected. They ducked and continued the fight. Frisk laughed as they dodged another attack. Captain Undyne, upon landing on the other side of them, spun around and turned her momentum into the energy needed to strike at Frisk. They bounced out of the way and ran around to Captain Undyne’s other side. Although they attempted the same trick on Captain Undyne, it didn’t work too well. They managed nick her waist. Captain Undyne’s spear flashed. They were on the ground again.

           “One minute, sixteen seconds.”

          Captain Undyne helped them back up. “Huh. You cut me. Nice! You’re improving! Let’s go!” Frisk and Captain Undyne engaged in another duel. Some distance away, Papyrus watched as the two practiced their dueling.

          Eventually, Frisk got too tired to continue. They held up their spear. “Okay!” They wheezed. “You got me!”

          Captain Undyne stood up straight and let go of her spear. It fizzled into nonexistence. “Tired already? You’re going to have to work on your stamina if you want to survive. But I’m sure that this is nice for your first ever fighting lesson.”

           Frisk let go of the weapon. It fizzled out of existence. “Thanks! I learn from the best.”

           “Of course you do.” Captain Undyne patted their head and looked back at their house. “You’re pretty tired. Up for some tea?”

          Frisk nodded. “Oh, thank you! And some water for Flowey!”

          Flowey sighed. “Yeah I guess I’ll take some water.”

          Captain Undyne opened the door for them to enter. From there, they got to sit at the broken table and drink tea. Captain Undyne prepared another pot as they ran out. Eventually, Frisk was feeling able to run about again. “I got a present for you, punk.”

          Frisk perked up. “Really? Thank you!”

          Captain Undyne laughed. “I haven’t even showed you!”

           “Oh, right.” Frisk set their hands on the table. Captain Undyne smirked and got up. She vanished into her room. After a few moments, she was back. She knelt behind Frisk and set a tiny blue spear connected to a wire on their chest. The spear was tipped down, pointing straight at their heart. The necklace was tied behind their neck.

          Captain Undyne sat back down in her spot. “Fits you like a charm. Next time you get in a scrap, remember our lesson.”

          Frisk squealed in delight, “Thank you! Oh my goodness! This is amazing! Thank you!”

          Captain Undyne smiled and sat up straight. “That’s me. Now, a bit of advice to you: You’re going through Hotland next. The monsters there are pretty tough, and most use fire attacks. King Asgore… he uses fire as well. But, uh, I don’t want to hear about the loss of king, no matter what he might say. You might be doing well in training, but I’d still stomp you.”

           “Of course! Thank you very much, Captain Undyne.” Frisk purred and puffed up.

           “Oh, and one last thing: Dr. Alphys and Mettaton. Mettaton’s not harmless, but everything he does, he does for show. So, if you act well, you might be able to appease him. Being a good dancer and actress should help when you get into a situation with him. And Dr. Alphys? She’s the royal scientist. She won’t give you much trouble if she knows you’re going to the king. She likes experiments, but she doesn’t mess with humans- especially with the last one.”

          Frisk nodded. “Okay. Thank you very much, Captain Undyne. I’ll get to the king’s castle and I’ll make sure everyone is freed. So, I guess, see you there.”

          Captain Undyne smirked. “See you there, kid.”

          Frisk turned and trotted out of the house. Papyrus was gone. Flowey smiled. “You have a way with people, Frisk. Hopefully it lasts.”

           “Of course, it’ll last, Flowey. As long as we believe in ourselves, and each other, there is nothing we can’t do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that we're out of the screaming marshes, let's turn up the heat!

**Author's Note:**

> I will be updating every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Stay tuned for more Waterfall!


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